{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_34632/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_34632","id":"gutenberg_34632","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34632","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Congregational churches -- Sermons","Edwards, Jonathan, 1703-1758","Sermons, American"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned\nimages of public domain material from the Google Print\nproject.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSELECTED SERMONS OF JONATHAN EDWARDS\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Jonathan Edwards.]\n\n\n\n\n  SELECTED SERMONS OF JONATHAN EDWARDS\n\n\n  EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES\n  BY H. NORMAN GARDINER\n  PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN SMITH COLLEGE\n\n\n  New York\n  THE MACMILLAN COMPANY\n  LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.\n  1904\n\n  _All rights reserved_\n\n\n\n\n  COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.\n\n\n  Set up and electrotyped. Published June, 1904.\n\n\n  Norwood Press\n  J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith Co.\n  Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                      PAGE\n\n  INTRODUCTION                                         vii\n\n  SERMONS:\n\n    I. GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN'S DEPENDENCE (1731)          1\n\n   II. THE REALITY OF SPIRITUAL LIGHT (1733)            21\n\n  III. RUTH'S RESOLUTION (1735)                         45\n\n   IV. THE MANY MANSIONS (1737)                         64\n\n    V. SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD (1741)      78\n\n   VI. A STRONG ROD BROKEN AND WITHERED (1748)          98\n\n  VII. FAREWELL SERMON (1750)                          118\n\n  NOTES                                                155\n\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nJonathan Edwards was born October 5, 1703, in what is now South Windsor,\nConn., a part of the parish then known as \"Windsor Farmes.\" His father,\nthe Rev. Timothy Edwards, the minister of the parish, a Harvard graduate,\nwas reputed a man of superior ability and polished manners, a lover of\nlearning as well as of religion; in addition to his pastoral duties, he\nfitted young men for college, and his liberal views of education appear in\nthe fact that he made his daughters pursue the same studies these youths\ndid. His mother, a daughter of the Rev. Solomon Stoddard, the minister of\nNorthampton, is said to have resembled her distinguished father in\nstrength of character and to have surpassed her husband in the native\nvigor of her mind. As regards remoter ancestry and their intellectual and\nmoral qualities, Edwards seems also to have been well born; an exception,\nhowever, must be made of the eccentric and possibly insane grandmother on\nhis father's side, whose outrageous conduct led to her divorce.[1]\n\nBrought up the only son in a family of ten daughters, apart from all\ndistracting influences, in an atmosphere of religion and serious study in\nthe home, amid natural surroundings of meadows, woods, and low-lying\ndistant hills singularly conducive to a life of contemplation, the boy\nearly developed that absorbing interest in the things of the spirit, and\nthat astonishing acuteness of intellect which are the most prominent\ncharacteristics of his genius. While a mere child he spent much of his\ntime in religious exercises and in conversation on religious matters with\nother boys, with some of whom he joined to build a booth in a retired spot\nin a swamp for secret prayer; he had besides several other such places for\nprayer in the woods to which he was wont to retire. His mind also dwelt\nmuch on the doctrines he was taught, especially on the doctrine of God's\nsovereignty in election, against which he at that time violently rebelled.\nWhen only ten years of age he wrote a short, quaint, somewhat humorous\nlittle tract on the immortality of the soul; at about twelve he composed a\nremarkably accurate and ingenious paper on the habits of the \"flying\nspider.\"\n\nHe entered the Collegiate School of Connecticut at Saybrook--afterwards\nYale College--at thirteen, and in 1720, shortly before his seventeenth\nbirthday, graduated at New Haven with the valedictory. In his Sophomore\nyear he made the acquaintance of Locke's _Essay on the Human\nUnderstanding_--a work which left a permanent impress on his thinking. He\nread it, he says, with a far higher pleasure \"than the most greedy miser\nfinds when gathering up handfuls of silver and gold from some\nnewly-discovered treasure.\" Under its influence he began a series of Notes\non the Mind, with a view to a comprehensive treatise on mental philosophy.\nHe also began, possibly somewhat later, a series of Notes on Natural\nScience, with reference to a similar work on natural philosophy. It is in\nthese early writings that we find the outlines of an idealistic theory\nwhich resembles, but was probably not at all derived from, that of\nBerkeley, and which seems to have remained a determining factor in his\nspeculations to the last.[2]\n\nAfter graduating he continued to reside for two years in New Haven,\nstudying for the ministry. From August, 1722, till the following April he\nsupplied the pulpit of a small Presbyterian congregation in New York, but\ndeclined the invitation to remain as their minister. After returning to\nhis father's home in Windsor, he received at least two other calls, one of\nwhich he seems to have accepted.[3] In September, 1723, he went to New\nHaven to receive his Master's degree, was appointed a tutor at the\ncollege, entered upon the active duties of that office in June, 1724, and\ncontinued in the same till September, 1726, when he resigned his tutorship\nto become colleague-pastor with his grandfather Stoddard in the church at\nNorthampton.\n\nThe spiritual history of Edwards in these years of growth from youth to\nearly manhood is recorded by his own hand in a narrative of personal\nexperiences written at a later date for his own use, in fragments of a\ndiary, and in a series of resolutions which he drew up for the conduct of\nhis own life. These documents, which were first published by his\nbiographer and descendant, Sereno E. Dwight, in 1829, throw a flood of\nlight on Edwards's character and temperament, and serve to explain much in\nhis life which would otherwise be obscure. He tells us in his narrative\nhow the childish delight in the exercises of religion before referred to\ngradually declined; how at length \"he turned like a dog to his vomit, and\nwent on in the ways of sin;\" then how, after much conflict of soul, he\nexperienced toward the end of his college course a genuine conversion,\nissuing in a new life and, in the course of time, a deep and delightful\nsense of God's sovereignty, the excellency of Christ, and the beauty of\nholiness. There is possibly some exaggeration in Edwards's description of\nthis lapse and this recovery, but it was at least a very real experience\nto him, and it doubtless contributed to the emphasis which he afterwards\nput on conversion in his preaching. His own state after this decisive\nchange was at times one of mystic rapture--\"a calm, sweet abstraction of\nsoul from all the concerns of this world; and sometimes a kind of vision,\nor fixed ideas and imaginations, of being alone in the mountains or some\nsolitary wilderness, far from all mankind, sweetly conversing with Christ\nand wrapped and swallowed up in God.\" His diary is the record of a soul\nstraining in its flight. He watches the fluctuations of his moods with\nalmost morbid intensity, and yet in a way by no means merely conventional,\nand with a singular absence of sentimentality, so evidently sincere and,\nin a sense, objective are his observations. Of his seventy Resolutions,\nall written before he was twenty, the following may be taken as a\nspecimen: it is the language of a mind as truly original as religious, and\nis eminently characteristic. \"On the supposition that there never was to\nbe but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a\ncomplete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity\nalways shining in its true lustre, and appearing excellent and lovely,\nfrom whatever part and under whatever character viewed, _Resolved_: To act\njust as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who\nshould live in my time.\" And he did so act; these resolutions were not\nempty, they really determined his life.\n\nEdwards was ordained at Northampton, February 15, 1727, being then in his\ntwenty-fourth year. Five months later, July 28, he married the beautiful\nSarah Pierrepont, then seventeen, the daughter of the Rev. James\nPierrepont, of New Haven, one of the founders, and a prominent trustee, of\nYale College, and on her mother's side, the great-granddaughter of Thomas\nHooker, \"the father of the Connecticut churches.\" Edwards's description of\nher, written four years before their marriage, is famous.[4] The union\nproved a singularly happy one, the intelligence, cheerfulness, piety, and\npractical sagacity of Mrs. Edwards combining to make her at once a\ncongenial companion and a most useful helpmeet to her zealously devout,\nhighly intellectual, but often low-spirited husband, immersed in his\nwritings and his books. They had twelve children, all born in Northampton.\nMr. Stoddard died February 11, 1729, leaving the young minister in full\npastoral charge. It was a responsible undertaking for so young a man to\nguide the affairs of a church reputed the largest and wealthiest in the\ncolony outside of Boston, one too on which the venerable and venerated\nStoddard had stamped the impress of his strong personality during a\nministry of nearly sixty years. Edwards, as he later confesses, made\nmistakes. Nevertheless, he succeeded in winning and holding the\nconfidence, admiration, and affection of the people during the greater\npart of the twenty-three years of his ministry in Northampton. He carried\nthe church through two great periods of revival (1734-35, 1740-42), and\nadded over five hundred and fifty names to its membership.[5] This,\nhowever, represents but a small part of his influence in these years. Both\nby his preaching in Northampton and elsewhere and by his published\nwritings, notably his printed sermons and his works dealing with the\nrevivals, in which must be included his treatise on the Religious\nAffections, he powerfully affected the currents of religious thought and\nlife throughout New England and the neighboring colonies and, to some\nextent also, in England and Scotland. His mission had been to recall the\nPuritan churches, which for some seventy years had languished in a period\nof decline, to the old high Puritan standards both of creed and of\nconduct, and to infuse into them a new spirit of vital piety. In this he\nwas largely successful; and still to-day, in spite of wide departures from\nhis theological system, he remains an effectual spiritual force in the\nchurches inheriting the Puritan tradition.\n\nThe estrangement between Edwards and his people began in 1744, in\nconnection with a case of discipline in which a large number of the youth\nbelonging to the leading families of the town were brought under suspicion\nof reading and circulating immoral books.[6] During the excitement of the\nrevival the people had willingly accepted his high demands. But now, in\nthe reaction, flesh and blood rebelled. Edwards, however, was not the man\nto accommodate the claims of religion, as he conceived those claims, to\nthe weaknesses of human nature. It would not be strange if, under the\ncircumstances, the people looked on their minister as something of a\nspiritual dictator, exercising a kind of spiritual tyranny. Still, this\nfeeling, so far as it then existed, was not likely to have led to an open\nrupture, had it not been that four years later, on occasion of an\napplication--the first in those years--for membership in the church,\nEdwards sought to impose a new test of qualification. He required, namely,\nthat the candidate for full communion should give evidence of being\nconverted, and as such converted person, should make a public profession\nof godliness. This restriction ran counter to the principles and usage\nestablished by Mr. Stoddard, accepted by most of the neighboring churches,\nand hitherto followed by Edwards himself, according to which, not only\nmight persons be admitted to church membership on the terms of the\n\"Halfway Covenant,\" but they might come to the Lord's Supper, if they\ndesired to do so, even without the assurance of conversion, the hope being\nthat the rite might itself prove a converting ordinance. Edwards was now\nopenly charged with seeking to lord it over the brethren, and the\nindignation was intense. He, on his part, was convinced of the correctness\nof his position, and was prepared to maintain it at all costs. The unhappy\ncontroversy lasted for two years: Edwards dignified, courteous, disposed\nto be conciliatory, yet insisting on the recognition of his rights, and\nshowing throughout his great moral and intellectual superiority; the\npeople prejudiced, obstinate, refusing even to consider his views or to\nallow him to set them forth in the pulpit, bent only on getting rid of\nhim. Finally, on June 22, 1750, the Council, convened to advise on the\nmatter, recommended, by a vote of 10 to 9, the minority protesting, that\nthe pastoral relations should be dissolved. The concurrent sentiment of\nthe church was expressed by the overwhelming vote of about 200 to 20 of\nthe male members. The next Sunday but one Edwards preached his Farewell\nSermon.[7]\n\nEdwards was now forty-six years of age, unfitted, as he says, for any\nother business but study, and with a \"numerous and chargeable family\" to\nface the world with. The long controversy and the circumstances attending\nthe dismissal had had a depressing effect on his spirits, and the outlook\nseemed to him gloomy in the extreme. But his trust was in God, and friends\ndid not fail. From Scotland came the offer of assistance in procuring him\na charge there; his Northampton adherents desired him to remain and form a\nseparate church in the town. Early in December he received a call from the\nlittle church in Stockbridge, on the frontier, and about the same time an\ninvitation from the Commissioners in Boston of the \"Society in London for\nPropagating the Gospel in New England and the parts adjacent\" to become\ntheir missionary to the Indians, who then formed a large part of the\nStockbridge settlement. After acquainting himself by a residence of\nseveral months in Stockbridge with the conditions of the work, and after\nreceiving satisfactory assurances, in a personal interview with the\nGovernor, with regard to the conduct of the Indian mission, he accepted\nboth of these proposals. He had scarcely done so when he received a call,\nwith the promise of generous support, from a church in Virginia.\n\nThe opposition which had driven him from Northampton followed him to\nStockbridge. For several years a persistent effort was made to obstruct\nhis work, particularly his work among the Indians, and even to secure his\nremoval. But he successfully met this opposition, won the confidence of\nthe Indians, and greatly endeared himself to the \"English.\" Here, too, in\nthe wilderness he found time and opportunity for the writing of those\ngreat treatises on the Freedom of the Will, on the End for which God\ncreated the World, on the Nature of True Virtue, and on the Christian\nDoctrine of Original Sin, which are the principal foundation of his\ntheological reputation.\n\nMeanwhile an event had occurred in Edwards's family destined to have\nimportant consequences--the marriage of his daughter Esther to the Rev.\nAaron Burr, President of Nassau Hall, in Princeton.[8] In September,\n1757, Mr. Burr died; two days later, the Corporation appointed Edwards as\nhis successor. Edwards was for various reasons reluctant to accept the\nappointment; he mistrusted his fitness, he especially feared that the\nduties of the office would seriously interrupt the literary work in which\nhe was now engrossed. Nevertheless, on the recommendation of a Council\ncalled at his desire to advise in the matter, he accepted the call. He\nleft Stockbridge in January, and toward the end of the month reached\nPrinceton. But the only work he did as President of the College was to\npreach for five or six Sundays and to give out themes in divinity to the\nSenior Class, with whom he afterwards discussed their papers on them. The\nsmall-pox was epidemic in the town when he arrived, and as a precautionary\nmeasure he had himself inoculated. The disease, mild at first, developed\nbadly, and on March 22, 1758, he died. From his death-bed he sent this\ntender and characteristic message to his wife, who was still in\nStockbridge: \"Give my kindest love to my dear wife, and tell her that the\nuncommon union, which has so long subsisted between us, has been of such a\nnature, as, I trust, is spiritual, and therefore will continue forever.\"\nHis last words, also characteristic, were, \"Trust in God, and ye need not\nfear.\"\n\nA tall, spare man, with high, broad forehead, clear piercing eyes,\nprominent nose, thin, set lips and a rather weak chin, his whole\nappearance suggested the perspicacity of intellect and the integrity,\nrefinement, and benevolence of character of one possessing little physical\nenergy, little suited to practical affairs, but intensely alive in the\nspirit, intensely absorbed in the contemplation of things invisible and\neternal. The two qualities, indeed, for which he is most distinguished are\nspirituality and intellectuality. Spiritual-mindedness was the very core\nand essence of his being. Religion was his element. God was to him\nabsolute Reality; His will and His thoughts alone constituted the ultimate\ntruth and meaning of things. Nor was this with Edwards a mere\nphilosophical speculation; it was the high region in which he drew vital\nbreath, the solid ground on which he walked. He walked with God. He has\nbeen called the \"Saint of New England.\" Like other saints, he too has on\noccasion his ecstasies.[9]\n\nTo this high spirituality, with its rich emotional coloring, was united a\npower and subtlety of intellect such as is possessed by only the very\ngreatest masters of the mind. The spiritual world in which Edwards moved\nwas for him no mere shadowy realm of pious sentiment or vague aspiration,\nbut a world whose main outlines, at least, were sharply defined for\nthought. He conceived it, namely, in accordance with the scheme of things\nsystematized by Calvin, but originally wrought out with the compelling\nforce of transcendent genius by Augustine. The theological thought of\nAugustine is concerned--to put the matter as simply as possible--with the\nelaboration of four fundamental ideas: the absolute sovereignty of God;\nthe absolute dependence of man; the supernatural revelation of a divinely\noriginated plan of salvation administered by the Church; and a philosophy\nof history according to which the whole created universe and the entire\ntemporal course of events are ordered and governed from all eternity with\nreference to the establishment and triumph of a Kingdom of saints in the\nChurch, the holy \"City of God.\" Augustine's conception of the Church is\nmodified, but not in principle rejected, by the Protestant theologians;\nthe other features of the scheme remain substantially unchanged. The idea\nof God's absolute sovereignty leads naturally, in connection with the\nmotives supplied by certain teachings of Scripture, Roman jurisprudence,\nGreek philosophy, and the experiences of a profound religious\nconsciousness, to the doctrines of God's eternal foreknowledge, His\n\"arbitrary,\" i.e., unconditional decrees,--the eternal\nworld-plan,--predestination, election, the historic work of redemption,\neverlasting punishment for the unrepentant wicked, everlasting felicity\nfor the elect saints. Over against the sovereignty of God stands man's\nabsolute dependence, historically conditioned, as regards his present\nspiritual capacities, by the Fall, with original sin, total depravity, and\nthe utter inability of man to recover by himself his lost heritage as its\nconsequence. Hence the great, the essential tragedy of human life--man\nnaturally corrupt, in slavery to sin, at enmity with God, utterly\nincompetent to change a condition in which, by a sort of natural\nnecessity, he is the subject of God's vindictive justice, utterly\ndependent for salvation on the free, unmerited grace of God, who has mercy\non whom He will have mercy, while whom He will He hardeneth, revealing\nalike in mercy and in punishment the majesty of His divine and sovereign\nattributes.\n\nThis, in general, is the scheme which Edwards stands for, he most\nconspicuously of all men of modern times. His speculative genius gave to\nthis scheme a metaphysical background, his logical acumen elaboration and\ndefence. He modified it in some respects, e.g., in his doctrine of the\nwill. What is more important, he gave a prominence to the inward state of\nman--the dispositions and affections of his mind and heart--which\nappreciably affected the relative values of the scheme, and which has, in\nfact, changed the entire complexion of the religious thought of New\nEngland. But as to the general scheme itself, the philosophy of religion,\nthe philosophy of life it expresses, there is nothing in that which is\nessentially original with Edwards. In standing for these doctrines he but\nchampions the great orthodox tradition.\n\nBut however little original may be the content of his thought, there is\nnothing that is not in the highest degree original in his manner of\nthinking. The significant thing about Edwards is the way he enters into\nthe tradition, infuses it with his personality and makes it live. The\nvitality of his thought gives to its product the value of a unique\ncreation. Two qualities in him especially contribute to this result, large\nconstructive imagination and a marvellously acute power of abstract\nreasoning. With the vision of the seer he looks steadily upon his world,\nwhich is the world of all time and space and existence, and sees it as a\nwhole; God and souls are in it the great realities, and the transactions\nbetween them the great business in which all its movement is concerned;\nand this movement has in it nothing haphazard, it is eternally determined\nwith reference to a supreme and glorious end, the manifestation of the\nexcellency of God, the highest excellency of being. All the dark and\ntragic aspects of the vision, which for him is intensely real, take their\nplace along with the other aspects, in a system, a system wherein every\npart derives meaning and worth from its relation to the whole. People have\nwondered how Edwards, the gentlest of men, could contemplate, as he said\nhe did, with sweetness and delight, the awful doctrine of the divine\nsovereignty interpreted, as he interpreted it, as implying the everlasting\nmisery of a large part of the human race. The reason is no revolting\nindifference, callous and inhuman, to suffering; the reason is rather the\npersonal detachment, the disinterested interest, the freedom from the\n\"pathetic fallacy\" of the great poet, the great constructive thinker. It\nis this large quality in Edwards's imagination which is one source of his\npower. Another is the thoroughness and ability with which he\nintellectually elaborates the details of his scheme. He wrote, indeed, no\nsystem of divinity; yet he is the very opposite of a fragmentary thinker,\nand few minds have been less episodic than was his. His intellectual\nconstructions are large and solid. Of the doctrines with which he deals,\nhe leaves nothing undeveloped; with infinite patience he pushes his\ninquiries into every minute detail and remote consequence, putting his\nadversaries to confusion by the unremitting attack, the overwhelming\nmassiveness of the argument. Rarely indeed can one escape his conclusions\nwho accepts his premises. Moreover, by the thoroughness, acuteness and\nsincerity of his reasoning he powerfully stimulates the intellectual\nfaculties. Even in his most terrific sermons he never appeals to mere hope\nand fear, nor to mere authority; in them, as in his theological treatises,\nhe is bent on demonstrating, within the limits prescribed by the\nunderlying assumptions, the reasonableness of his doctrine, its agreement\nwith the facts of life and the constitution of things, as well as with the\ninspired teachings of the Word.\n\nNow these qualities appear, as in his other writings, so also, and perhaps\nmost conspicuously, in his sermons. Edwards's chief public work and his\nchief reputation in his lifetime was as a preacher; the fame of his\ntheological treatises is largely, indeed, posthumous. He was a great\npreacher. In the case of many of the older divines, it is difficult for us\nnow to understand how they could ever have been considered great\npreachers: to us their sermons seem dry and insipid. But it is not so with\nEdwards. Even in print, after more than a hundred and fifty years, and\nnotwithstanding the gulf which separates our age from his, his sermons are\nstill deeply interesting. They are interesting because, among other\nthings, they reveal a great and interesting personality. They are instinct\nwith the energy of his intellect, they are vital with the vital touch of\nhis genius. He preached his theology; some of his sermons--for instance,\nthe sermon, or rather combination of sermons, on Justification by\nFaith--seem to be less sermons than highly elaborate theological\ndisquisitions, adapted to the use of professional students. And there is\ndoubtless no sermon of his which does not reflect, to some extent, his\ntheological system. Edwards was certainly impressed with The Importance\nand Advantage of a Thorough Knowledge of Divine Truth--the theme and title\nof one of his ablest discourses. He held that God had revealed Himself\nnot only to the heart, but to the mind of man, and that an intelligent\napprehension of the revelation was indispensable, in some measure, alike\nto saving faith and to the development of Christian character. But it\nwould be a mistake to think of Edwards as preaching the dry bones of his\ntheology. He was far, indeed, from supposing, as some now seem to suppose,\nthat a Christian society can be the more perfectly organized in proportion\nas all definiteness of theological, that is, distinctively religious,\nconceptions is eliminated. He had too profound a respect for the intellect\nto exclude it from matters of the deepest speculative as well as practical\nmoment, and he had too lofty an idea of religion to identify it either\nwith vague, transcendental emotion or with merely personal, social, or\npolitical morality. His sermons, however, are by no means all of one type.\nOn the contrary, they are of a great variety of types. They are\n\"doctrinal,\" \"practical,\" \"experimental,\" and--taking into account the\nunpublished manuscripts--there is an unusually large number of\n\"occasional\" sermons.[10] And there are a good many varieties within the\ntypes. But even when the sermons are most \"doctrinal,\" the practical\ninterest of a _living_ conviction of the truth is never absent. The\nabstract antithesis of thought and life, of theory and practice, as though\nthinking were not itself a doing or as though an attitude toward truth\nwere not itself practical or capable of determining other practical\nattitudes, is an error from which Edwards is wholesomely free.\n\nTo say this is not necessarily to approve the content of his doctrinal\npreaching. The thought of the churches with which Edwards was associated\nhas moved away from his thought. He contended stoutly for his scheme of\nthings, but he fought, it would seem, a losing fight. It is not that he\nhas been refuted by abstract logic; the argument by which he has been set\naside, so far as he has been set aside, is the logic of events. The\nchange has been brought about no doubt by many influences. Some of them\nseem purely sentimental. But there are two things at least of fundamental\ndivergence in the character of our time--the development in us of a\ncritically disciplined historical sense and the dominating influence in\nour modern science and philosophy of the idea of evolution. These have\nbroken down those hard and fast distinctions between nature and the\nsupernatural, nature and grace, human reason and divine revelation in\nwhich Edwards delighted, at least in the form in which he habitually\npreached them. With the establishment, on the lines of historical\ncriticism, of new canons of exegesis in the interpretation of Scripture\nand with the gradual disappearance of the idea of the Bible as an external\nauthority, Protestant Christianity is at present confronting the question,\nwhether the entire claim of Christianity to be a supernatural revelation,\nin the sense in which the term \"supernatural\" is used by orthodox\ntheologians, has not been misplaced. This is a question which Edwards\nnever raises and which he does not help us directly to solve. He has the\nmind of a speculative philosopher, has a very profound thought of God,\ngrasps firmly the eternal spiritual significance of things; but he is\ndeficient in the historical sense--his History of Redemption is a wholly\nuncritical, dogmatic construction, and he is not speculative enough to\nfind, or at least he works under conditions which prevent him from\nshowing, the mediating principles by which the antitheses and\ncontradictions of experience and theory can be reconciled and annulled.\n\nBut to return to the sermons. Edwards's sermons are constructed, in\ngeneral, on a definite model. We have, first, the Exposition of the text.\nWe have, secondly, a clearly formulated statement of the Doctrine, which\nis then developed under its appropriate and preannounced divisions.\nFinally, we have what is variously called the Improvement, Use, or\nApplication, similarly developed. The \"Doctrine\" is not usually an\nabstract theological dogma: it is simply the theme of the discourse stated\nin propositional form. Thus an unpublished sermon on John i. 41, 42 has\nthis for its statement of doctrine: \"When persons have truly come to\nChrist themselves, they naturally desire to bring others also to him.\"\nAnother unpublished sermon on John iii. 7 has this: \"'Tis no wonder that\nChrist said that we must be born again.\" In another--also\nunpublished--from the text John i. 47 the doctrine is the similarly simple\nstatement, \"'Tis a great thing to be indeed a converted person.\"\nSometimes, though rarely, the statement of a doctrine is omitted\naltogether, the text itself being regarded as sufficiently defining the\nsubject.[11] This, however, is never the case with the Application.\nIndeed, so \"practical\" is Edwards in his preaching that the Application is\nsometimes much the larger part of the discourse. In the sermon on John i.\n47, for example, it fills about two-thirds of the manuscript. In fact, the\nproportion of these parts, Exposition, Development of Doctrine and\nApplication, depends entirely on the nature of the theme and the special\nends of the sermon. And similarly of the length and number of the\nsubdivisions. One feature is constant--strictly logical arrangement.\nHowever finely articulated the sermons may be, they are constructed so as\nto make a distinctly unified impression. Nor is this unity of impression\nseriously interfered with, as a rule, by the length of the sermon. Edwards\nwas not in the habit of exhausting the attention of his audience.\nOccasionally, however, he would develop his theme through two or more\nsermons. When these appear in the printed editions as a single discourse,\nthe length naturally seems inordinate. In the manuscripts the parts of\nsuch compound sermons are indicated by the word \"Doc\" (Doctrine) at the\ndivisions, suggesting that the preacher was wont, in renewing the theme,\nto remind his hearers of the precise nature of the subject under\ndiscussion.[12]\n\nAnd as there was no confusion in the thought, so the style of Edwards's\nsermons is singularly clear, simple and unstudied. He affects no graces,\nseeks no adornments, which the subject-matter itself and his interest in\nit do not naturally lend. \"The style is the man\" is a saying which\npeculiarly applies to him. The nobility, strength and directness of his\nthought, the vividness and largeness of his imagination, the truthfulness\nand elevation of his character, the intensity of his convictions, his\nimpassioned earnestness are reflected in his discourses. They seem to have\nbeen to an unusual degree a spontaneous form of self-expression. But\nattention is never diverted from the subject to the skill of the\nworkmanship. The object is not to delight, but to convince, and the\nattainment of this end is sought by direct methods of argument, persuasion\nand appeal. Yet the style, though simple and straightforward, is very far\nfrom being barren. The sermons are full of great, rich, beautiful words;\nand there are many passages in them of wonderful charm as well as many of\ngreat sublimity and rhetorical power. But Edwards's interest in these\nseems never merely verbal. He is not a maker of phrases. He makes use of\nstriking metaphor and startling antithesis, his style is often\npicturesque, he well knows the rhetorical value of iteration, when the\nrepeated phrase is employed in a varied context; but he never seeks to\nproduce his effects by literary indirection. He can be easy, familiar,\ncolloquial even, on occasion, if that suits his purpose; but he is never\nundignified, never vulgarly sensational, nor does he seem ever to be\nintentionally humorous. The construction of his sentences is often such as\nthe pedantry of modern standards would condemn; but however old-fashioned,\nit is seldom indeed that the expression can be called whimsical or quaint.\nThe most determining external influence on his style was unquestionably\nthe old, so-called King James version of the English Bible. His language\nis saturated with its thought and phraseology. And as he is intimately\nacquainted with it in all its parts, so he is continually quoting it and\nconstantly surprising us with fresh discoveries, in novel collocations, of\nits variety, beauty and impressiveness. He was influenced also doubtless\nby his too exclusively theological and philosophical reading. But it is,\nin the end, the originality of his own genius, the depth and subtlety and\nforce of his mind and the richness of his spiritual experiences, which we\nmust regard as setting the stamp upon his style. Edwards's sermons are\nhall-marked: they have not only interest as historical memorials of the\nreligious conditions of their time; as the personal expressions of an\noriginal mind, working in traditional material, indeed, but animating and\nso refashioning it with the unique form of a great personality, they have\nalso the value of literature.\n\nLargely to the union of the intellectual and emotional elements\nmentioned--the definiteness of the message, the logical unity of the\nthought, the singleness and sincerity of the aim, the intensity of the\nconviction, the thorough knowledge of Scripture, the profound\nacquaintance, through personal experience, of the religious movings of the\nhuman heart--must be attributed, in connection with the state of religious\nthought and feeling of the time and the respect aroused by the character\nof the preacher, the power which he exercised on his contemporaries. Of\nhis manner of preaching we have from his pupil, Hopkins, the following\nauthentic testimony. \"His appearance in the desk was with a good grace,\nand his delivery easy, natural and very solemn. He had not a strong, loud\nvoice, but appeared with such gravity and solemnity, and spake with such\ndistinctness, clearness and precision, his words were so full of ideas,\nset in such a plain and striking light, that few speakers have been so\nable to demand the attention of an audience as he. His words often\ndiscovered a great degree of inward fervor, without much noise or external\nemotion, and fell with great weight on the minds of his hearers. He made\nbut little motion of his head or hands in the desk, but spake as to\ndiscover the motion of his own heart, which tended in the most natural and\neffectual manner to move and affect others.\n\n\"As he wrote his sermons out at large for many years, and always wrote a\nconsiderable part of most of his public discourses, so he carried his\nnotes into the desk with him, and read the most that he wrote; yet he was\nnot so confined to his notes, when he wrote at large, but that, if some\nthoughts were suggested, while he was speaking, which did not occur when\nwriting, and appeared to him pertinent and striking, he would deliver\nthem; and that with as great propriety, and oftener with greater pathos,\nand attended with a more sensible good effect on his hearers, than all he\nhad wrote.\"[13]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe sermons in the present volume have been selected as representative of\nEdwards the preacher rather than of Edwards the theologian. Any such\ncollection must include at least the following four: the sermon on Man's\nDependence, the sermon on Spiritual Light, the Enfield Sermon and the\nFarewell Sermon. These are classic. Moreover, they represent Edwards in\nfour of his most distinguishing aspects: as the powerful champion of a\ntheology resting ultimately on the principle of a transcendent, righteous,\nsovereign Will; as the equally convinced advocate of the mystical\nprinciple of an immediate, intuitive apprehension, through supernatural\nillumination, of divine truth; as the flaming revivalist, with pitiless\nlogic and terrible realism of description, arousing, startling,\noverwhelming the sinner with the sense of impending doom; finally, as the\nrejected minister appealing, without rancor or bitterness, from the\njudgment of this world to the judgment of an infallible tribunal and\ndisplaying what must ever make him more interesting, more precious as a\nheritage to the Church and the world, than any of his opinions or his\nworks, the dignity and repose, the patience, strength and depth of a great\ncharacter, perfected through suffering and apparent defeat, in what was\nvirtually the Apologia of his ministerial life. These sermons alone would\nsuffice to justify Edwards's reputation as the foremost preacher of his\nage. Still, they cannot, of course, be taken as adequately representing\nthe whole range and power of his discourses. In particular, the Enfield\nsermon, which has loomed so large in the popular imagination of Jonathan\nEdwards, and which, in fact, is but one--to be sure, the most extreme--of\na number of the same type, cannot be taken as fairly representative even\nof Edwards's revival sermons. There has, therefore, been added, in this\nreference, a revival sermon of another type, the sermon on Ruth's\nResolution. This sermon was chosen, not because it is better than some\nothers, but because, while being an excellent sermon of its kind, it is\nalso brief, and so better adapted to the scope of this volume. There has\nbeen further added, as representing a type distinctly different from any\nof the others, the funeral sermon entitled A Strong Rod Broken and\nWithered, which is certainly one of the noblest, in thought and\nexpression, of Edwards's discourses, and which is probably unique among\nhis writings as dealing with the subject of civil government and the\nmanagement of affairs. Had space permitted, the picture of the Christian\nstatesman in this sermon might have been matched by the picture of the\nChristian minister in one of the ordination sermons; but the omission is\nthe less serious since the conception is so largely realized in Edwards\nhimself.\n\nThe above six sermons were selected independently of the fact that they\nare among the ten published by their author; but this circumstance\nconfirms the choice and, moreover, serves to authenticate the text.\nEdwards has suffered not a little at the hands of his editors,\nparticularly Dwight, who seems to have been possessed by the idea that his\nauthor would appear to better advantage in a style and language more\nelegant and refined. \"Don't do as Orpah did,\" pleads Edwards in the Ruth\nsermon; \"Do not as Orpah did,\" is the feeble refinement of his editor. But\neven the generally accurate Worcester or First American Edition (1809) is\nnot to be implicitly trusted; for instance, two whole pages are omitted at\nthe end of the Enfield sermon, giving to that sermon a startling and\nbizarre close, wholly out of keeping with Edwards's habitual manner. Later\neditions import other errors and, even while professing to follow the\nWorcester edition, sometimes, in fact, follow not that edition, but\nDwight's (e.g., in the Ruth sermon). The present text is based upon a\ncareful comparison of the original editions, now very scarce, in the\nBoston Athenaeum. The original expressions, 'tis, won't, don't, etc., as\nEdwards himself printed them, have been restored, a number of verbal\nerrors in the later editions corrected and several omitted lines\nrecovered, besides the long passage already mentioned, which is, however,\nin Dwight, at the end of the Enfield sermon. No attempt, however, has been\nmade to give a facsimile reproduction of the first editions with all their\nprinter's errors, capricious spelling, antiquated punctuation and uncouth\nuse of capitals and italics. These externalities could but distract the\nmodern reader, while adding nothing essential to accuracy. In these\nrespects, therefore, the more modern usage has been followed. The aim has\nsimply been to give the exact words of the originals and to preserve their\nspirit, treating the sermons as sermons to be preached and not as essays\nto be read. Accordingly, while avoiding the extremes of the first\neditions, italics have been used where Edwards used them to mark\ndivisions, or for special emphasis, somewhat more freely than would be\ncustomary now. This edition also follows his, and the Biblical, use of\nordinary type in personal pronouns referring to divine beings, the verbal\nreverence in the modern use of capitals being regarded as needless to\nenhance the real reverence of Edwards's thought and possibly a little out\nof place. Added words are enclosed within square brackets.\n\nBesides the six sermons mentioned, the present collection includes one,\nthe interesting if not exactly great sermon on the Many Mansions, which\nhas not before been published. A copy of this sermon made for the late\nProfessor Edwards A. Park, of Andover, was kindly put at the disposal of\nthe editor by his son, the Rev. Dr. William E. Park, of Gloversville,\nN.Y.; but it has also been carefully collated with the original\nmanuscript. The editor has also examined the original manuscripts of all\nthe other sermons in this volume, except that of the Farewell Sermon,\nwhich could not be discovered. These manuscripts are all in the collection\nof between eleven and twelve hundred of Edwards's sermons now in the Yale\nUniversity Library. Most of these manuscripts are written in an\nexceedingly minute hand, with many abbreviations and occasionally with\ninsertions in shorthand, on sheets of paper about 3-5/8 x 4-1/8 in. in\nsize, stoutly stitched together. The facsimile of the first page of the\nsermon on Spiritual Light given in this volume opposite p. 21 is\nrepresentative; a relatively small number are slightly larger. Of the\nparticular manuscripts some account will be found in the notes. The\nhandling and deciphering of these manuscripts give one a curious sense of\nintimacy with the working of Edwards's brain and heart: one is with him in\nhis workshop and sees, as it were, the very thing in the making. One seems\nto feel the intensity of the excitement as, with his audience present in\nimagination, and with keen delight in the activity of literary creation,\nhe works out his theme. One observes how alternative forms of expression,\nalternative lines of development, suggest themselves, and how now whole\nparagraphs, whole pages are struck off at white heat, while now, oftenest\ntowards the end, the barest outlines are jotted down, to be filled out in\ndelivery. But the manuscripts of the sermons which Edwards himself\npublished afford no help in the fixing of the text. The sermons as he\nprinted them are invariably expanded and often greatly altered in other\nrespects; and the copy prepared for the printer is no longer extant.[14]\nThis circumstance should not be overlooked in judging of sermons printed\ndirectly from the manuscripts. In the Yale collection, there are sermons\nwhich were written out pretty fully; others are only fairly fully written\nout in parts, others again are mere skeletons. The majority of those of\nthe Northampton period are of the second sort. Among the hundreds of\nEdwards's unpublished sermons, there are doubtless many that it would be\ninteresting to have in print just as they stand; it is doubtful if there\nare any which would add materially to his reputation as a preacher in\ncomparison with the great sermons already published.\n\nThe portrait of Edwards in this volume is from a recent photograph of the\noriginal painting of 1740. The photograph was kindly furnished by the\npresent owner of the painting, Mr. Eugene P. Edwards, of Chicago, to whom\nthe editor takes this opportunity of expressing his obligations. He also\ndesires to express his thanks to Dr. William E. Park for the use of the\ncopy of the sermon on the Many Mansions; to the publishers for allowing\nthe extra space required for printing this new sermon; to Professor\nFranklin B. Dexter for generous help in the study of the manuscripts and\nfor permission to photograph the sermon on Spiritual Light; to Mr. Charles\nK. Bolton, Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, for courtesies in the use of\nthe first editions; and to Mr. George N. Whipple of Boston, for verifying\na number of references.\n\n  NORTHAMPTON, MASS.,\n      March, 1904.\n\n\n\n\nSELECTED SERMONS OF JONATHAN EDWARDS\n\n\n\n\nI\n\nGOD GLORIFIED IN MAN'S DEPENDENCE deg.\n\n1 COR. i. 29-31.--That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him\nare ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and\nrighteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that according as it is\nwritten, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.\n\n\nThose Christians to whom the apostle directed this epistle dwelt in a part\nof the world where human wisdom was in great repute; as the apostle\nobserves in the 22d verse of this chapter, \"The Greeks seek after wisdom.\"\nCorinth was not far from Athens, that had been for many ages the most\nfamous seat of philosophy and learning in the world.\n\nThe apostle therefore observes to them how that God, by the gospel,\ndestroyed and brought to nought their human wisdom. The learned Grecians\nand their great philosophers by all their wisdom did not know God: they\nwere not able to find out the truth in divine things. But after they had\ndone their utmost to no effect, it pleased God at length to reveal himself\nby the gospel, which they accounted foolishness. He \"chose the foolish\nthings of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world\nto confound the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world,\nand things that are despised, yea, and things which are not, to bring to\nnought the things that are.\" And the apostle informs them why he thus\ndid, in the verse of the text: _That no flesh should glory in his\npresence_, &c.\n\nIn which words may be observed,\n\n1. What God aims at in the disposition of things in the affair of\nredemption, viz., that man should not glory in himself, but alone in God:\n_That no flesh should glory in his presence,--that, according as it is\nwritten, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord_.\n\n2. How this end is attained in the work of redemption, viz., by that\nabsolute and immediate dependence which men have upon God in that work for\nall their good. Inasmuch as,\n\nFirst, All the good that they have is in and through Christ; _he is made\nunto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption_. All the\ngood of the fallen and redeemed creature is concerned in these four\nthings, and cannot be better distributed than into them; but Christ is\neach of them to us, and we have none of them any otherwise than in him.\n_He is made of God unto us wisdom_: in him are all the proper good and\ntrue excellency of the understanding. Wisdom was a thing that the Greeks\nadmired; but Christ is the true light of the world, it is through him\nalone that true wisdom is imparted to the mind. 'Tis in and by Christ that\nwe have _righteousness_: it is by being in him that we are justified, have\nour sins pardoned, and are received as righteous into God's favor. 'Tis by\nChrist that we have _sanctification_: we have in him true excellency of\nheart as well as of understanding; and he is made unto us inherent, as\nwell as imputed righteousness. 'Tis by Christ that we have _redemption_,\nor actual deliverance from all misery, and the bestowment of all happiness\nand glory. Thus we have all our good by Christ, who is God.\n\nSecondly, Another instance wherein our dependence on God for all our good\nappears, is this, that it is God that has given us Christ, that we might\nhave these benefits through him; he _of God is made unto us wisdom,\nrighteousness_, &c.\n\nThirdly, 'Tis _of him_ that we are in Christ Jesus, and come to have an\ninterest in him, and so do receive those blessings which he is made unto\nus. It is God that gives us faith whereby we close with Christ.\n\nSo that in this verse is shown our dependence on each person in the\nTrinity for all our good. We are dependent on Christ the Son of God, as he\nis our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. We are\ndependent on the Father, who has given us Christ, and made him to be these\nthings to us. We are dependent on the Holy Ghost, for 'tis _of him that we\nare in Christ Jesus_; 'tis the Spirit of God that gives faith in him,\nwhereby we receive him and close with him.\n\n\nDOCTRINE\n\n_God is glorified in the work of redemption in this, that there appears in\nit so absolute and universal a dependence of the redeemed on him._\n\nHere I propose to show, I., That there is an absolute and universal\ndependence of the redeemed on God for all their good. And II., That God\nhereby is exalted and glorified in the work of redemption.\n\nI. There is an absolute and universal dependence of the redeemed on God.\nThe nature and contrivance of our redemption is such, that the redeemed\nare in every thing directly, immediately and entirely dependent on God:\nthey are dependent on him for all, and are dependent on him every way.\n\nThe several ways wherein the dependence of one being may be upon another\nfor its good, and wherein the redeemed of Jesus Christ depend on God for\nall their good, are these, viz., that they have all their good _of_ him,\nand that they have all _through_ him, and that they have all _in_ him.\nThat he is the cause and original whence all their good comes, therein it\nis _of_ him; and that he is the medium by which it is obtained and\nconveyed, therein they have it _through_ him; and that he is that good\nitself that is given and conveyed, therein it is _in_ him.\n\nNow those that are redeemed by Jesus Christ do, in all these respects,\nvery directly and entirely depend on God for their all.\n\nFirst, The redeemed have all their good _of_ God; God is the great author\nof it; he is the first cause of it, and not only so, but he is the only\nproper cause.\n\n'Tis of God that we have our Redeemer: it is God that has provided a\nSaviour for us. Jesus Christ is not only of God in his person, as he is\nthe only begotten Son of God, but he is from God, as we are concerned in\nhim and in his office of Mediator: he is the gift of God to us: God chose\nand anointed him, appointed him his work, and sent him into the world.\n\nAnd as it is God that gives, so 'tis God that accepts the Saviour. As it\nis God that provides and gives the Redeemer to buy salvation for us, so it\nis of God that salvation is bought: he gives the purchaser, and he affords\nthe thing purchased.\n\n'Tis of God that Christ becomes ours, that we are brought to him and are\nunited to him: it is of God that we receive faith to close with him, that\nwe may have an interest in him. Eph. ii. 8, \"For by grace ye are saved,\nthrough faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.\" 'Tis of\nGod that we actually do receive all the benefits that Christ has\npurchased. 'Tis God that pardons and justifies, and delivers from going\ndown to hell, and it is his favor that the redeemed are received into, and\nare made the objects of, when they are justified. So it is God that\ndelivers from the dominion of sin, and cleanses us from our filthiness,\nand changes us from our deformity. It is of God that the redeemed do\nreceive all their true excellency, wisdom and holiness; and that two ways,\nviz., as the Holy Ghost, by whom these things are immediately wrought, is\nfrom God, proceeds from him and is sent by him; and also as the Holy\nGhost himself is God, by whose operation and indwelling the knowledge of\ndivine things, and a holy disposition, and all grace, are conferred and\nupheld.\n\nAnd though means are made use of in conferring grace on men's souls, yet\n'tis of God that we have these means of grace, and 'tis God that makes\nthem effectual. 'Tis of God that we have the holy Scriptures; they are the\nword of God. 'Tis of God that we have ordinances, and their efficacy\ndepends on the immediate influence of the Spirit of God. The ministers of\nthe gospel are sent of God, and all their sufficiency is of him. 2 Cor.\niv. 7, \"We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of\nthe power may be of God, and not of us.\" Their success depends entirely\nand absolutely on the immediate blessing and influence of God. The\nredeemed have all.\n\n1. Of the _grace_ of God. It was of mere grace that God gave us his only\nbegotten Son. The grace is great in proportion to the dignity and\nexcellency of what is given: the gift was infinitely precious, because it\nwas a person infinitely worthy, a person of infinite glory; and also\nbecause it was a person infinitely near and dear to God. The grace is\ngreat in proportion to the benefit we have given us in him: the benefit is\ndoubly infinite, in that in him we have deliverance from an infinite,\nbecause an eternal, misery; and do also receive eternal joy and glory. The\ngrace in bestowing this gift is great in proportion to our unworthiness to\nwhom it is given; instead of deserving such a gift, we merited infinitely\nill of God's hands. The grace is great according to the manner of giving,\nor in proportion to the humiliation and expense of the method and means by\nwhich way is made for our having of the gift. He gave him to us dwelling\namongst us; he gave him to us incarnate, or in our nature; he gave him to\nus in our nature, in the like infirmities in which we have it in our\nfallen state, and which in us do accompany and are occasioned by the\nsinful corruption of our nature. He gave him to us in a low and afflicted\nstate; and not only so, but he gave him to us slain, that he might be a\nfeast for our souls. deg.\n\nThe grace of God in bestowing this gift is most free. It was what God was\nunder no obligation to bestow: he might have rejected fallen man, as he\ndid the fallen angels. It was what we never did any thing to merit. 'Twas\ngiven while we were yet enemies, and before we had so much as repented. It\nwas from the love of God that saw no excellency in us to attract it; and\nit was without expectation of ever being requited for it.\n\nAnd 'tis from mere grace that the benefits of Christ are applied to such\nand such particular persons. Those that are called and sanctified are to\nattribute it alone to the good pleasure of God's goodness, by which they\nare distinguished. He is sovereign, and hath mercy on whom he will have\nmercy, and whom he will, he hardens.\n\nMan hath now a greater dependence on the grace of God than he had before\nthe fall. He depends on the free goodness of God for much more than he did\nthen: then he depended on God's goodness for conferring the reward of\nperfect obedience: for God was not obliged to promise and bestow that\nreward: but now we are dependent on the grace of God for much more: we\nstand in need of grace, not only to bestow glory upon us, but to deliver\nus from hell and eternal wrath. Under the first covenant we depended on\nGod's goodness to give us the reward of righteousness; and so we do now.\nAnd not only so, but we stand in need of God's free and sovereign grace to\ngive us that righteousness; and yet not only so, but we stand in need of\nhis grace to pardon our sin and release us from the guilt and infinite\ndemerit of it.\n\nAnd as we are dependent on the goodness of God for more now than under the\nfirst covenant, so we are dependent on a much greater, more free and\nwonderful goodness. We are now more dependent on God's arbitrary and\nsovereign good pleasure. We were in our first estate dependent on God for\nholiness: we had our original righteousness from him; but then holiness\nwas not bestowed in such a way of sovereign good pleasure as it is now.\nMan was created holy, and it became God to create holy all the reasonable\ncreatures he created: it would have been a disparagement to the holiness\nof God's nature, if he had made an intelligent creature unholy. But now\nwhen a man is made holy, it is from mere and arbitrary grace; God may\nforever deny holiness to the fallen creature if he pleases, without any\ndisparagement to any of his perfections.\n\nAnd we are not only indeed more dependent on the grace of God, but our\ndependence is much more conspicuous, because our own insufficiency and\nhelplessness in ourselves is much more apparent in our fallen and undone\nstate than it was before we were either sinful or miserable. We are more\napparently dependent on God for holiness, because we are first sinful, and\nutterly polluted, and afterward holy: so the production of the effect is\nsensible, and its derivation from God more obvious. If man was ever holy\nand always was so, it would not be so apparent, that he had not holiness\nnecessarily, as an inseparable qualification of human nature. So we are\nmore apparently dependent on free grace for the favor of God, for we are\nfirst justly the objects of his displeasure and afterwards are received\ninto favor. We are more apparently dependent on God for happiness, being\nfirst miserable and afterwards happy. It is more apparently free and\nwithout merit in us, because we are actually without any kind of\nexcellency to merit, if there could be any such thing as merit in creature\nexcellency. And we are not only without any true excellency, but are full\nof, and wholly defiled with, that which is infinitely odious. All our good\nis more apparently from God, because we are first naked and wholly without\nany good, and afterwards enriched with all good.\n\n2. We receive all of the _power_ of God. Man's redemption is often spoken\nof as a work of wonderful power as well as grace. The great power of God\nappears in bringing a sinner from his low state, from the depths of sin\nand misery, to such an exalted state of holiness and happiness. Eph. i.\n19, \"And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who\nbelieve, according to the working of his mighty power.\"\n\nWe are dependent on God's power through every step of our redemption. We\nare dependent on the power of God to convert us, and give faith in Jesus\nChrist, and the new nature. 'Tis a work of creation: \"If any man be in\nChrist, he is a new creature,\" 2 Cor. v. 17. \"We are created in Christ\nJesus,\" Eph. ii. 10. The fallen creature cannot attain to true holiness,\nbut by being created again: Eph. iv. 24, \"And that ye put on the new man,\nwhich after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.\" It is a\nraising from the dead: Col ii. 12, 13, \"Wherein ye also are risen with\nhim, through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from\nthe dead.\" Yea, it is a more glorious work of power than mere creation, or\nraising a dead body to life, in that the effect attained is greater and\nmore excellent. That holy and happy being and spiritual life which is\nreached in the work of conversion is a far greater and more glorious\neffect than mere being and life. And the state from whence the change is\nmade, of such a death in sin, and total corruption of nature, and depth of\nmisery, is far more remote from the state attained, than mere death or\nnonentity.\n\n'Tis by God's power also that we are preserved in a state of grace: 1 Pet.\ni. 5, \"Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.\" As\ngrace is at first from God, so 'tis continually from him, and is\nmaintained by him, as much as light in the atmosphere is all day long from\nthe sun, as well as at first dawning or at sunrising.\n\nMen are dependent on the power of God for every exercise of grace, and for\ncarrying on the work of grace in the heart, for the subduing of sin and\ncorruption, and increasing holy principles, and enabling to bring forth\nfruit in good works, and at last bringing grace to its perfection, in\nmaking the soul completely amiable in Christ's glorious likeness, and\nfilling of it with a satisfying joy and blessedness; and for the raising\nof the body to life, and to such a perfect state, that it shall be\nsuitable for a habitation and organ for a soul so perfected and blessed.\nThese are the most glorious effects of the power of God that are seen in\nthe series of God's acts with respect to the creatures.\n\nMan was dependent on the power of God in his first estate, but he is more\ndependent on his power now; he needs God's power to do more things for\nhim, and depends on a more wonderful exercise of his power. It was an\neffect of the power of God to make man holy at the first; but more\nremarkably so now, because there is a great deal of opposition and\ndifficulty in the way. 'Tis a more glorious effect of power to make that\nholy that was so depraved and under the dominion of sin, than to confer\nholiness on that which before had nothing of the contrary. It is a more\nglorious work of power to rescue a soul out of the hands of the devil, and\nfrom the powers of darkness, and to bring it into a state of salvation,\nthan to confer holiness where there was no prepossession or opposition.\nLuke xi. 21, 22, \"When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods\nare in peace; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and\novercome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and\ndivideth his spoils.\" So 'tis a more glorious work of power to uphold a\nsoul in a state of grace and holiness, and to carry it on till it is\nbrought to glory, when there is so much sin remaining in the heart\nresisting, and Satan with all his might opposing, than it would have been\nto have kept man from falling at first, when Satan had nothing in man.\n\nThus we have shown how the redeemed are dependent on God for all their\ngood, as they have all _of_ him.\n\nSecondly, They are also dependent on God for all, as they have all\n_through_ him. 'Tis God that is the medium of it, as well as the author\nand fountain of it. All that we have, wisdom and the pardon of sin,\ndeliverance from hell, acceptance in God's favor, grace and holiness, true\ncomfort and happiness, eternal life and glory, we have from God by a\nMediator; and this Mediator is God, which Mediator we have an absolute\ndependence upon as he _through_ whom we receive all. So that here is\nanother way wherein we have our dependence on God for all good. God not\nonly gives us the Mediator, and accepts his mediation, and of his power\nand grace bestows the things purchased by the Mediator, but he is the\nMediator.\n\nOur blessings are what we have by purchase; and the purchase is made of\nGod, the blessings are purchased of him, and God gives the purchaser; and\nnot only so, but God is the purchaser. Yea, God is both the purchaser and\nthe price; for Christ, who is God, purchased these blessings for us by\noffering up himself as the price of our salvation. He purchased eternal\nlife by the sacrifice of himself: Heb. vii. 27, \"He offered up himself;\"\nand ix. 26, \"He hath appeared to take away sin by the sacrifice of\nhimself.\" Indeed it was the human nature that was offered; but it was the\nsame person with the divine, and therefore was an infinite price: it was\nlooked upon as if God had been offered in sacrifice.\n\nAs we thus have our good through God, we have a dependence on God in a\nrespect that man in his first estate had not. Man was to have eternal life\nthen through his own righteousness; so that he had partly a dependence\nupon what was in himself; for we have a dependence upon that through which\nwe have our good, as well as that from which we have it. And though man's\nrighteousness that he then depended on was indeed from God, yet it was his\nown, it was inherent in himself; so that his dependence was not so\nimmediately on God. But now the righteousness that we are dependent on is\nnot in ourselves, but in God. We are saved through the righteousness of\nChrist: he _is made unto us righteousness_; and therefore is prophesied\nof, Jer. xxiii. 6, under that name of \"the Lord our righteousness.\" In\nthat the righteousness we are justified by is the righteousness of Christ,\nit is the righteousness of God: 2 Cor. v. 21, \"That we might be made the\nrighteousness of God in him.\"\n\nThus in redemption we han't only all things of God, but by and through\nhim: 1 Cor. viii. 21, \"But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom\nare all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all\nthings, and we by him.\"\n\nThirdly, The redeemed have all their good _in_ God. We not only have it of\nhim, and through him, but it consists in him; he _is_ all our good.\n\nThe good of the redeemed is either objective or inherent. By their\nobjective good I mean that intrinsic object, in the possession and\nenjoyment of which they are happy. Their inherent good is that excellency\nor pleasure which is in the soul itself. With respect to both of which the\nredeemed have all their good in God, or, which is the same thing, God\nhimself is all their good.\n\n1. The redeemed have all their _objective_ good in God. God himself is the\ngreat good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by\nredemption. He is the highest good and the sum of all that good which\nChrist purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion\nof their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their life,\ntheir dwelling-place, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting\nhonor and glory. They have none in heaven but God; he is the great good\nwhich the redeemed are received to at death, and which they are to rise to\nat the end of the world. The Lord God, he is the light of the heavenly\nJerusalem; and is the \"river of the water of life,\" that runs, and \"the\ntree of life that grows, in the midst of the paradise of God.\" The\nglorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will forever\nentertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their\neverlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will\nenjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another; but that which they shall\nenjoy in the angels, or each other, or in any thing else whatsoever that\nwill yield them delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in\nthem.\n\n2. The redeemed have all their _inherent_ good in God. Inherent good is\ntwofold; 'tis either excellency or pleasure. These the redeemed not only\nderive from God, as caused by him, but have them in him. They have\nspiritual excellency and joy by a kind of participation of God. They are\nmade excellent by a communication of God's excellency: God puts his own\nbeauty, i.e., his beautiful likeness, upon their souls: they are made\npartakers of the divine nature, or moral image of God, 2 Pet. i. 4. They\nare holy by being made partakers of God's holiness, Heb. xii. 10. The\nsaints are beautiful and blessed by a communication of God's holiness and\njoy, as the moon and planets are bright by the sun's light. The saint hath\nspiritual joy and pleasure by a kind of effusion of God on the soul. In\nthese things the redeemed have communion with God; that is, they partake\nwith him and of him.\n\nThe saints have both their spiritual excellency and blessedness by the\ngift of the Holy Ghost, or Spirit of God, and his dwelling in them. They\nare not only caused by the Holy Ghost, but are in the Holy Ghost as their\nprinciple. The Holy Spirit becoming an inhabitant, is a vital principle in\nthe soul: he, acting in, upon and with the soul, becomes a fountain of\ntrue holiness and joy, as a spring is of water, by the exertion and\ndiffusion of itself: John iv. 14, \"But whosoever drinketh of the water\nthat I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give\nhim, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting\nlife,\"--compared with chap. vii. 38, 39, \"He that believeth on me, as the\nScripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water;\nbut this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should\nreceive.\" The sum of what Christ has purchased for us is that spring of\nwater spoken of in the former of those places, and those rivers of living\nwater spoken of in the latter. And the sum of the blessings which the\nredeemed shall receive in heaven is that river of water of life that\nproceeds from the throne of God and the Lamb, Rev. xxii. 1,--which\ndoubtless signifies the same with those rivers of living water explained\nJohn vii. 38, 39, which is elsewhere called the \"river of God's\npleasures.\" Herein consists the fulness of good which the saints receive\nby Christ. 'Tis by partaking of the Holy Spirit that they have communion\nwith Christ in his fulness. God hath given the Spirit, not by measure unto\nhim, and they do receive of his fulness, and grace for grace. This is the\nsum of the saints' inheritance; and therefore that little of the Holy\nGhost which believers have in this world is said to be the earnest of\ntheir inheritance. 2 Cor. i. 22, \"Who hath also sealed us, and given us\nthe Spirit in our hearts.\" And chap. v. 5, \"Now he that hath wrought us\nfor the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of\nthe Spirit.\" And Eph. i. 13, 14, \"Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of\npromise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of\nthe purchased possession.\"\n\nThe Holy Spirit and good things are spoken of in Scripture as the same; as\nif the Spirit of God communicated to the soul comprised all good things:\nMatt. vii. 11, \"How much more shall your heavenly Father give good things\nto them that ask him?\" In Luke it is, chap. xi. 13, \"How much more shall\nyour heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?\" This is\nthe sum of the blessings that Christ died to procure, and that are the\nsubject of gospel promises: Gal. iii. 13, 14, \"He was made a curse for us,\nthat we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.\" The\nSpirit of God is the great promise of the Father: Luke xxiv. 49, \"Behold,\nI send the promise of my Father upon you.\" The Spirit of God therefore is\ncalled \"the Spirit of promise,\" Eph. i. 13. This promised thing Christ\nreceived, and had given into his hand, as soon as he had finished the work\nof our redemption, to bestow on all that he had redeemed: Acts ii. 33,\n\"Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of\nthe Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which\nye both see and hear.\" So that all the holiness and happiness of the\nredeemed is _in_ God. 'Tis in the communications, indwelling and acting of\nthe Spirit of God. Holiness and happiness are in the fruit, here and\nhereafter, because God dwells in them, and they in God.\n\nThus 'tis God that has given us the Redeemer, and 'tis of him that our\ngood is purchased: so 'tis God that is the Redeemer and the price; and\n'tis God also that is the good purchased. So that all that we have is _of_\nGod, and _through_ him, and _in_ him: Rom. xi. 36, \"For of him, and\nthrough him, and to him (or in him), are all things.\" The same in the\nGreek that is here rendered _to him_ is rendered _in him_, 1 Cor. vii. 6.\n\nII. God is glorified in the work of redemption by this means, viz., by\nthere being so great and universal a dependence of the redeemed on him.\n\n1. Man hath so much the greater occasion and obligation to take notice and\nacknowledge God's perfections and all-sufficiency. The greater the\ncreature's dependence is on God's perfections, and the greater concern he\nhas with them, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice of them.\nSo much the greater concern any one has with, and dependence upon, the\npower and grace of God, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice\nof that power and grace. So much the greater and more immediate dependence\nthere is on the divine holiness, so much the greater occasion to take\nnotice of and acknowledge that. So much the greater and more absolute\ndependence we have on the divine perfections, as belonging to the several\npersons of the Trinity, so much the greater occasion have we to observe\nand own the divine glory of each of them. That which we are most concerned\nwith, is surely most in the way of our observation and notice; and this\nkind of concern with any thing, viz., dependence, does especially tend to\ncommend and oblige the attention and observation. Those things that we are\nnot much dependent upon, 'tis easy to neglect; but we can scarce do any\nother than mind that which we have a great dependence on. By reason of our\nso great dependence on God and his perfections, and in so many respects,\nhe and his glory are the more directly set in our view, which way soever\nwe turn our eyes.\n\nWe have the greater occasion to take notice of God's all-sufficiency, when\nall our sufficiency is thus every way of him. We have the more occasion to\ncontemplate him as an infinite good, and as the fountain of all good. Such\na dependence on God demonstrates God's all-sufficiency. So much as the\ndependence of the creature is on God, so much the greater does the\ncreature's emptiness in himself appear to be; and so much the greater the\ncreature's emptiness, so much the greater must the fulness of the Being be\nwho supplies him. Our having all _of_ God shows the fulness of his power\nand grace: our having all _through_ him shows the fulness of his merit and\nworthiness; and our having all _in_ him demonstrates his fulness of\nbeauty, love and happiness.\n\nAnd the redeemed, by reason of the greatness of their dependence on God,\nhan't only so much the greater occasion, but obligation to contemplate and\nacknowledge the glory and fulness of God. How unreasonable and ungrateful\nshould we be if we did not acknowledge that sufficiency and glory that we\ndo absolutely, immediately and universally depend upon!\n\n2. Hereby is demonstrated how great God's glory is considered\ncomparatively, or as compared with the creature's. By the creature's\nbeing thus wholly and universally dependent on God, it appears that the\ncreature is nothing and that God is all. Hereby it appears that God is\ninfinitely above us; that God's strength, and wisdom and holiness are\ninfinitely greater than ours. However great and glorious the creature\napprehends God to be, yet if he be not sensible of the difference between\nGod and him, so as to see that God's glory is great, compared with his\nown, he will not be disposed to give God the glory due to his name. If the\ncreature, in any respect, sets himself upon a level with God, or exalts\nhimself to any competition with him, however he may apprehend that great\nhonor and profound respect may belong to God from those that are more\ninferior, and at a greater distance, he will not be so sensible of its\nbeing due from him. So much the more men exalt themselves, so much the\nless will they surely be disposed to exalt God. 'Tis certainly a thing\nthat God aims at in the disposition of things in the affair of redemption\n(if we allow the Scriptures to be a revelation of God's mind), that God\nshould appear full, and man in himself empty, that God should appear all,\nand man nothing. 'Tis God's declared design that others should not \"glory\nin his presence\"; which implies that 'tis his design to advance his own\ncomparative glory. So much the more man \"glories in God's presence,\" so\nmuch the less glory is ascribed to God.\n\n3. By its being thus ordered, that the creature should have so absolute\nand universal a dependence on God, provision is made that God should have\nour whole souls, and should be the object of our undivided respect. If we\nhad our dependence partly on God and partly on something else, man's\nrespect would be divided to those different things on which he had\ndependence. Thus it would be if we depended on God only for a part of our\ngood, and on ourselves or some other being for another part: or if we had\nour good only from God, and through another that was not God, and in\nsomething else distinct from both, our hearts would be divided between\nthe good itself, and him from whom, and him through whom we received it.\nBut now there is no occasion for this, God being not only he from or of\nwhom we have all good, but also through whom, and one that is that good\nitself, that we have from him and through him. So that whatsoever there is\nto attract our respect, the tendency is still directly towards God, all\nunites in him as the centre.\n\n\nUSE\n\n1. We may here observe the marvellous wisdom of God in the work of\nredemption. God hath made man's emptiness and misery, his low, lost and\nruined state into which he sunk by the fall, an occasion of the greater\nadvancement of his own glory, as in other ways, so particularly in this,\nthat there is now a much more universal and apparent dependence of man on\nGod. Though God be pleased to lift man out of that dismal abyss of sin and\nwoe into which he was fallen, and exceedingly to exalt him in excellency\nand honor, and to a high pitch of glory and blessedness, yet the creature\nhath nothing in any respect to glory of; all the glory evidently belongs\nto God, all is in a mere and most absolute and divine dependence on the\nFather, Son and Holy Ghost.\n\nAnd each person of the Trinity is equally glorified in this work: there is\nan absolute dependence of the creature on every one for all: all is _of_\nthe Father, all _through_ the Son, and all _in_ the Holy Ghost. Thus God\nappears in the work of redemption as _all in all_. It is fit that he that\nis, and there is none else, should be the Alpha and Omega, the first and\nthe last, the all, and the only, in this work.\n\n2. Hence those doctrines and schemes of divinity that are in any respect\nopposite to such an absolute and universal dependence on God, do derogate\nfrom God's glory, and thwart the design of the contrivance for our\nredemption. Those schemes that put the creature in God's stead, in any of\nthe mentioned respects, that exalt man into the place of either Father,\nSon or Holy Ghost, in any thing pertaining to our redemption; that,\nhowever they may allow of a dependence of the redeemed on God, yet deny a\ndependence that is so absolute and universal; that own an entire\ndependence on God for some things, but not for others; that own that we\ndepend on God for the gift and acceptance of a Redeemer, but deny so\nabsolute a dependence on him for the obtaining of an interest in the\nRedeemer; that own an absolute dependence on the Father for giving his\nSon, and on the Son for working out redemption, but not so entire a\ndependence on the Holy Ghost for conversion and a being in Christ, and so\ncoming to a title to his benefits; that own a dependence on God for means\nof grace, but not absolutely for the benefit and success of those means;\nthat own a partial dependence on the power of God for the obtaining and\nexercising holiness, but not a mere dependence on the arbitrary and\nsovereign grace of God; that own a dependence on the free grace of God for\na reception into his favor, so far that it is without any proper merit,\nbut not as it is without being attracted, or moved with any excellency;\nthat own a partial dependence on Christ, as he through whom we have life,\nas having purchased new terms of life, but still hold that the\nrighteousness through which we have life is inherent in ourselves, as it\nwas under the first covenant; and whatever other way any scheme is\ninconsistent with our entire dependence on God for all, and in each of\nthose ways, of having all of him, through him, and in him, it is repugnant\nto the design and tenor of the gospel and robs it of that which God\naccounts its lustre and glory.\n\n3. Hence we may learn a reason why faith is that by which we come to have\nan interest in this redemption; for there is included in the nature of\nfaith a sensibleness and acknowledgment of this absolute dependence on God\nin this affair. 'Tis very fit that it should be required of all, in order\nto their having the benefit of this redemption, that they should be\nsensible of, and acknowledge the dependence on God for it. 'Tis by this\nmeans that God hath contrived to glorify himself in redemption; and 'tis\nfit that God should at least have this glory of those that are the\nsubjects of this redemption, and have the benefit of it.\n\nFaith is a sensibleness of what is real in the work of redemption; and as\nwe do really wholly depend on God, so the soul that believes doth entirely\ndepend on God for all salvation, in its own sense and act. Faith abases\nmen and exalts God, it gives all the glory of redemption to God alone. It\nis necessary in order to saving faith, that man should be emptied of\nhimself, that he should be sensible that he is \"wretched, and miserable,\nand poor, and blind, and naked.\" Humility is a great ingredient of true\nfaith: he that truly receives redemption, receives it as a little child:\nMark x. 15, \"Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of heaven as a little\nchild, he shall not enter therein.\" It is the delight of a believing soul\nto abase itself and exalt God alone: that is the language of it, Psalm\ncxv. 1, \"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name give glory.\"\n\n4. Let us be exhorted to exalt God alone, and ascribe to him all the glory\nof redemption. Let us endeavor to obtain, and increase in a sensibleness\nof our great dependence on God, to have our eye to him alone, to mortify a\nself-dependent and self-righteous disposition. Man is naturally exceeding\nprone to be exalting himself and depending on his own power or goodness,\nas though he were he from whom he must expect happiness, and to have\nrespect to enjoyments alien from God and his Spirit, as those in which\nhappiness is to be found.\n\nAnd this doctrine should teach us to exalt God alone, as by trust and\nreliance, so by praise. _Let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord._ Hath\nany man hope that he is converted and sanctified, and that his mind is\nendowed with true excellency and spiritual beauty, and his sins forgiven,\nand he received into God's favor, and exalted to the honor and blessedness\nof being his child, and an heir of eternal life: let him give God all the\nglory; who alone makes him to differ from the worst of men in this world,\nor the miserablest of the damned in hell. Hath any man much comfort and\nstrong hope of eternal life, let not his hope lift him up, but dispose him\nthe more to abase himself and reflect on his own exceeding unworthiness of\nsuch a favor, and to exalt God alone. Is any man eminent in holiness and\nabundant in good works, let him take nothing of the glory of it to\nhimself, but ascribe it to him whose \"workmanship we are, created in\nChrist Jesus unto good works.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF MANUSCRIPT OF FIRST PAGE OF SERMON \"A DIVINE\nAND SUPERNATURAL LIGHT.\"]\n\n\nII\n\nA DIVINE AND SUPERNATURAL LIGHT, IMMEDIATELY IMPARTED TO THE SOUL BY THE\nSPIRIT OF GOD, SHOWN TO BE BOTH A SCRIPTURAL AND RATIONAL DOCTRINE. deg.\n\n\nMATT. xvi.--And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon\nBarjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father\nwhich is in heaven.\n\n\nChrist says these words to Peter upon occasion of his professing his faith\nin him as the Son of God. Our Lord was inquiring of his disciples, who men\nsaid he was; not that he needed to be informed, but only to introduce and\ngive occasion to what follows. They answer, that some said he was John the\nBaptist, and some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the Prophets. When\nthey had thus given an account who others said he was, Christ asks them,\nwho they said he was. Simon Peter, whom we find always zealous and\nforward, was the first to answer: he readily replied to the question,\n_Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God_.\n\nUpon this occasion, Christ says as he does _to_ him, and _of_ him in the\ntext: in which we may observe,\n\n1. That Peter is pronounced blessed on this account. _Blessed art\nThou._--\"Thou art a happy man, that thou art not ignorant of this, that I\nam Christ, the Son of the living God. Thou art distinguishingly happy.\nOthers are blinded, and have dark and deluded apprehensions, as you have\nnow given an account, some thinking that I am Elias, and some that I am\nJeremias, and some one thing, and some another; but none of them thinking\nright, all of them misled. Happy art thou, that art so distinguished as\nto know the truth in this matter.\"\n\n2. The evidence of this his happiness declared; viz., that God, and he\nonly, had _revealed it_ to him. This is an evidence of his being\n_blessed_.\n\nFirst, As it shows how peculiarly favored he was of God above others; q.\nd., \"How highly favored art thou, that others that are wise and great men,\nthe Scribes, Pharisees and Rulers, and the nation in general, are left in\ndarkness, to follow their own misguided apprehensions; and that thou\nshouldst be singled out, as it were, by name, that my Heavenly Father\nshould thus set his love on thee, Simon Barjona. This argues thee blessed,\nthat thou shouldst thus be the object of God's distinguishing love.\"\n\nSecondly, It evidences his blessedness also, as it intimates that this\nknowledge is above any that flesh and blood can reveal. \"This is such\nknowledge as my Father which is in heaven only can give: it is too high\nand excellent to be communicated by such means as other knowledge is. Thou\nart blessed, that thou knowest that which God alone can teach thee.\"\n\nThe original of this knowledge is here declared, both negatively and\npositively. Positively, as God is here declared the author of it.\nNegatively, as it is declared, that flesh and blood had not revealed it.\nGod is the author of all knowledge and understanding whatsoever. He is the\nauthor of the knowledge that is obtained by human learning: he is the\nauthor of all moral prudence, and of the knowledge and skill that men have\nin their secular business. Thus it is said of all in Israel that were\nwise-hearted and skilful in embroidering, that God had filled them with\nthe spirit of wisdom, Exod. xxviii. 3.\n\nGod is the author of such knowledge; but yet not so but that flesh and\nblood reveals it. Mortal men are capable of imparting the knowledge of\nhuman arts and sciences, and skill in temporal affairs. God is the author\nof such knowledge by those means: flesh and blood is made use of by God\nas the mediate or second cause of it; he conveys it by the power and\ninfluence of natural means. But this spiritual knowledge, spoken of in the\ntext, is what God is the author of, and none else: he reveals it, and\nflesh and blood reveals it not. He imparts this knowledge immediately, not\nmaking use of any intermediate natural causes, as he does in other\nknowledge.\n\nWhat had passed in the preceding discourse naturally occasioned Christ to\nobserve this; because the disciples had been telling how others did not\nknow him, but were generally mistaken about him, and divided and\nconfounded in their opinions of him: but Peter had declared his assured\nfaith, that he was the Son of God. Now it was natural to observe, how it\nwas not flesh and blood that had revealed it to him, but God: for if this\nknowledge were dependent on natural causes or means, how came it to pass\nthat they, a company of poor fishermen, illiterate men, and persons of low\neducation, attained to the knowledge of the truth; while the Scribes and\nPharisees, men of vastly higher advantages, and greater knowledge and\nsagacity in other matters, remained in ignorance? This could be owing only\nto the gracious distinguishing influence and revelation of the Spirit of\nGod. Hence, what I would make the subject of my present discourse from\nthese words is this\n\n\nDOCTRINE\n\nviz., _That there is such a thing as a Spiritual and Divine Light,\nimmediately imparted to the soul by God, of a different nature from any\nthat is obtained by natural means._\n\nIn what I say on this subject at this time I would\n\nI. Show what this divine light is.\n\nII. How it is given immediately by God, and not obtained by natural means.\n\n\nIII. Show the truth of the doctrine.\n\nAnd then conclude with a brief improvement.\n\nI. I would show what this spiritual and divine light is. And in order to\nit, would show,\n\nFirst, In a few things what it _is not_. And here,\n\n1. _Those convictions that natural men may have of their sin and misery_,\nis not _this_ spiritual and divine light. Men in a natural condition may\nhave convictions of the guilt that lies upon them, and of the anger of God\nand their danger of divine vengeance. Such convictions are from light or\nsensibleness of truth. That some sinners have a greater conviction of\ntheir guilt and misery than others, is because some have more light, or\nmore of an apprehension of truth than others. And this light and\nconviction may be from the Spirit of God; the Spirit convinces men of sin:\nbut yet nature is much more concerned in it than in the communication of\nthat spiritual and divine light that is spoken of in the doctrine; 'tis\nfrom the Spirit of God only as assisting natural principles, and not as\ninfusing any new principles. Common grace differs from special, in that it\ninfluences only by assisting of nature; and not by imparting grace, or\nbestowing anything above nature. The light that is obtained is wholly\nnatural, or of no superior kind to what mere nature attains to, though\nmore of that kind be obtained than would be obtained if men were left\nwholly to themselves: or, in other words, common grace only assists the\nfaculties of the soul to do that more fully which they do by nature, as\nnatural conscience or reason will, by mere nature, make a man sensible of\nguilt, and will accuse and condemn him when he has done amiss. Conscience\nis a principle natural to men; and the work that it doth naturally, or of\nitself, is to give an apprehension of right and wrong, and to suggest to\nthe mind the relation that there is between right and wrong and a\nretribution. The Spirit of God, in those convictions which unregenerate\nmen sometimes have, assists conscience to do this work in a further\ndegree than it would do if they were left to themselves: he helps it\nagainst those things that tend to stupefy it, and obstruct its exercise.\nBut in the renewing and sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost, those things\nare wrought in the soul that are above nature, and of which there is\nnothing of the like kind in the soul by nature; and they are caused to\nexist in the soul habitually, and according to such a stated constitution\nor law that lays such a foundation for exercises in a continued course, as\nis called a principle of nature. Not only are remaining principles\nassisted to do their work more freely and fully, but those principles are\nrestored that were utterly destroyed by the fall; and the mind\nthenceforward habitually exerts those acts that the dominion of sin had\nmade it as wholly destitute of, as a dead body is of vital acts.\n\nThe Spirit of God acts in a very different manner in the one case from\nwhat he doth in the other. He may indeed act upon the mind of a natural\nman, but he acts in the mind of a saint as an indwelling vital principle.\nHe acts upon the mind of an unregenerate person as an extrinsic,\noccasional agent; for in acting upon them, he doth not unite himself to\nthem; notwithstanding all his influences that they may be the subjects of,\nthey are still sensual, having not the Spirit, Jude 19. But he unites\nhimself with the mind of a saint, takes him for his temple, actuates and\ninfluences him as a new, supernatural principle of life and action. There\nis this difference, that the Spirit of God, in acting in the soul of a\ngodly man, exerts and communicates himself there in his own proper nature.\nHoliness is the proper nature of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit\noperates in the minds of the godly by uniting himself to them, and living\nin them, and exerting his own nature in the exercise of their faculties.\nThe Spirit of God may act upon a creature, and yet not in acting\ncommunicate himself. The Spirit of God may act upon inanimate creatures;\nas the Spirit moved upon the face of the waters in the beginning of the\ncreation; so the Spirit of God may act upon the minds of men many ways,\nand communicate himself no more than when he acts upon an inanimate\ncreature. For instance, he may excite thoughts in them, may assist their\nnatural reason and understanding, or may assist other natural principles,\nand this without any union with the soul, but may act, as it were, as upon\nan external object. But as he acts in his holy influences and spiritual\noperations, he acts in a way of peculiar communication of himself; so that\nthe subject is thence denominated spiritual.\n\n2. _This_ spiritual and divine light _don't consist in any impression made\nupon the imagination_. It is no impression upon the mind, as though one\nsaw any thing with the bodily eyes: 'tis no imagination or idea of an\noutward light or glory, or any beauty of form or countenance, or a visible\nlustre or brightness of any object. The imagination may be strongly\nimpressed with such things; but this is not spiritual light. Indeed when\nthe mind has a lively discovery of spiritual things, and is greatly\naffected by the power of divine light, it may, and probably very commonly\ndoth, much affect the imagination; so that impressions of an outward\nbeauty or brightness may accompany those spiritual discoveries. But\nspiritual light is not that impression upon the imagination, but an\nexceeding different thing from it. Natural men may have lively impressions\non their imaginations; and we can't determine but that the devil, who\ntransforms himself into an angel of light, may cause imaginations of an\noutward beauty, or visible glory, and of sounds and speeches and other\nsuch things; but these are things of a vastly inferior nature to spiritual\nlight.\n\n3. _This_ spiritual light is _not the suggesting of any new truths or\npropositions not contained in the word of God_. This suggesting of new\ntruths or doctrines to the mind, independent of any antecedent revelation\nof those propositions, either in word or writing, is inspiration; such as\nthe prophets and apostles had, and such as some enthusiasts pretend to.\nBut this spiritual light that I am speaking of, is quite a different thing\nfrom inspiration: it reveals no new doctrine, it suggests no new\nproposition to the mind, it teaches no new thing of God, or Christ, or\nanother world, not taught in the Bible, but only gives a due apprehension\nof those things that are taught in the word of God.\n\n4. _'Tis not every affecting view that men have of the things of religion\nthat is this_ spiritual and divine light. Men by mere principles of nature\nare capable of being affected with things that have a special relation to\nreligion as well as other things. A person by mere nature, for instance,\nmay be liable to be affected with the story of Jesus Christ, and the\nsufferings he underwent, as well as by any other tragical story: he may be\nthe more affected with it from the interest he conceives mankind to have\nin it: yea, he may be affected with it without believing it; as well as a\nman may be affected with what he reads in a romance, or sees acted in a\nstage play. He may be affected with a lively and eloquent description of\nmany pleasant things that attend the state of the blessed in heaven, as\nwell as his imagination be entertained by a romantic description of the\npleasantness of fairy-land, or the like. And that common belief of the\ntruth of the things of religion that persons may have from education or\notherwise, may help forward their affection. We read in Scripture of many\nthat were greatly affected with things of a religious nature, who yet are\nthere represented as wholly graceless, and many of them very ill men. A\nperson therefore may have affecting views of the things of religion, and\nyet be very destitute of spiritual light. Flesh and blood may be the\nauthor of this: one man may give another an affecting view of divine\nthings with but common assistance; but God alone can give a spiritual\ndiscovery of them.\n\nBut I proceed to show,\n\nSecondly, Positively what this spiritual and divine light _is_.\n\nAnd it may be thus described: _a true sense of the divine excellency of\nthe things revealed in the word of God, and a conviction of the truth and\nreality of them thence arising_.\n\nThis spiritual light primarily consists in the former of these, viz., a\nreal sense and apprehension of the divine excellency of things revealed in\nthe word of God. A spiritual and saving conviction of the truth and\nreality of these things arises from such a sight of their divine\nexcellency and glory; so that this conviction of their truth is an effect\nand natural consequence of this sight of their divine glory. There is\ntherefore in this spiritual light,\n\n1. _A true sense of the divine and superlative excellency of the things of\nreligion_; a real sense of the excellency of God and Jesus Christ, and of\nthe work of redemption, and the ways and works of God revealed in the\ngospel. There is a divine and superlative glory in these things; an\nexcellency that is of a vastly higher kind and more sublime nature than in\nother things; a glory greatly distinguishing them from all that is earthly\nand temporal. He that is spiritually enlightened truly apprehends and sees\nit, or has a sense of it. He does not merely rationally believe that God\nis glorious, but he has a sense of the gloriousness of God in his heart.\nThere is not only a rational belief that God is holy and that holiness is\na good thing, but there is a sense of the loveliness of God's holiness.\nThere is not only a speculatively judging that God is gracious, but a\nsense how amiable God is upon that account, or a sense of the beauty of\nthis divine attribute.\n\nThere is a twofold understanding or knowledge of good that God has made\nthe mind of man capable of. The first, that which is merely speculative or\nnotional; as when a person only speculatively judges that anything is,\nwhich, by the agreement of mankind, is called good or excellent, viz.,\nthat which is most to general advantage, and between which and a reward\nthere is a suitableness, and the like. And the other is that which\nconsists in the sense of the heart: as when there is a sense of the\nbeauty, amiableness, or sweetness of a thing; so that the heart is\nsensible of pleasure and delight in the presence of the idea of it. In the\nformer is exercised merely the speculative faculty, or the understanding,\nstrictly so called, or as spoken of in distinction from the will or\ndisposition of the soul. In the latter, the will, or inclination, or\nheart, are mainly concerned.\n\nThus there is a difference between having an opinion that God is holy and\ngracious, and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness\nand grace. There is a difference between having a rational judgment that\nhoney is sweet, and having a sense of its sweetness. A man may have the\nformer, that knows not how honey tastes; but a man can't have the latter\nunless he has an idea of the taste of honey in his mind. So there is a\ndifference between believing that a person is beautiful, and having a\nsense of his beauty. The former may be obtained by hearsay, but the latter\nonly by seeing the countenance. There is a wide difference between mere\nspeculative rational judging anything to be excellent, and having a sense\nof its sweetness and beauty. The former rests only in the head,\nspeculation only is concerned in it; but the heart is concerned in the\nlatter. When the heart is sensible of the beauty and amiableness of a\nthing, it necessarily feels pleasure in the apprehension. It is implied in\na person's being heartily sensible of the loveliness of a thing, that the\nidea of it is sweet and pleasant to his soul; which is a far different\nthing from having a rational opinion that it is excellent.\n\n2. There arises from this sense of divine excellency of things contained\nin the word of God _a conviction of the truth and reality of them_; and\nthat either indirectly or directly.\n\nFirst, _Indirectly_, and that two ways.\n\n1. As the _prejudices that are in the heart_ against the truth of divine\nthings _are hereby removed_; so that the mind becomes susceptive of the\ndue force of rational arguments for their truth. The mind of man is\nnaturally full of prejudices against the truth of divine things: it is\nfull of enmity against the doctrines of the gospel; which is a\ndisadvantage to those arguments that prove their truth, and causes them to\nlose their force upon the mind. But when a person has discovered to him\nthe divine excellency of Christian doctrines, this destroys the enmity,\nremoves those prejudices, and sanctifies the reason, and causes it to lie\nopen to the force of arguments for their truth.\n\nHence was the different effect that Christ's miracles had to convince the\ndisciples from what they had to convince the Scribes and Pharisees. Not\nthat they had a stronger reason, or had their reason more improved; but\ntheir reason was sanctified, and those blinding prejudices, that the\nScribes and Pharisees were under, were removed by the sense they had of\nthe excellency of Christ and his doctrine.\n\n2. It not only removes the hinderances of reason, but _positively helps\nreason_. It makes even the speculative notions the more lively. It engages\nthe attention of the mind, with the more fixedness and intenseness to that\nkind of objects; which causes it to have a clearer view of them, and\nenables it more clearly to see their mutual relations, and occasions it to\ntake more notice of them. The ideas themselves that otherwise are dim and\nobscure are by this means impressed with the greater strength, and have a\nlight cast upon them; so that the mind can better judge of them: as he\nthat beholds the objects on the face of the earth, when the light of the\nsun is cast upon them, is under greater advantage to discern them in their\ntrue forms and mutual relations than he that sees them in a dim starlight\nor twilight.\n\nThe mind having a sensibleness of the excellency of divine objects, dwells\nupon them with delight; and the powers of the soul are more awakened and\nenlivened to employ themselves in the contemplation of them, and exert\nthemselves more fully and much more to the purpose. The beauty and\nsweetness of the objects draws on the faculties, and draws forth their\nexercises: so that reason itself is under far greater advantages for its\nproper and free exercises, and to attain its proper end, free of darkness\nand delusion. But,\n\nSecondly, A true sense of the divine excellency of the things of God's\nword doth more _directly_ and _immediately_ convince of the truth of them;\nand that because the excellency of these things is so superlative. There\nis a beauty in them that is so divine and godlike, that is greatly and\nevidently distinguishing of them from things merely human, or that men are\nthe inventors and authors of; a glory that is so high and great that, when\nclearly seen, commands assent to their divinity and reality. When there is\nan actual and lively discovery of this beauty and excellency, it won't\nallow of any such thought as that it is a human work, or the fruit of\nmen's invention. This evidence that they that are spiritually enlightened\nhave of the truth of the things of religion is a kind of intuitive and\nimmediate evidence. They believe the doctrines of God's word to be divine,\nbecause they see divinity in them; i.e., they see a divine, and\ntranscendent, and most evidently distinguishing glory in them; such a\nglory as, if clearly seen, does not leave room to doubt of their being of\nGod, and not of men.\n\nSuch a conviction of the truth of religion as this, arising, these ways,\nfrom a sense of the divine excellency of them, is that true spiritual\nconviction that there is in saving faith. And this original of it is that\nby which it is most essentially distinguished from that common assent\nwhich unregenerate men are capable of.\n\nII. I proceed now to the second thing proposed, viz., to show _how this\nlight is immediately given by God_, and not obtained by natural means. And\nhere,\n\n1. _'Tis not intended that the natural faculties are not made use of in\nit._ The natural faculties are the subject of this light: and they are the\nsubject in such a manner that they are not merely passive, but active in\nit; the acts and exercises of man's understanding are concerned and made\nuse of in it. God, in letting in this light into the soul, deals with man\naccording to his nature, or as a rational creature; and makes use of his\nhuman faculties. But yet this light is not the less immediately from God\nfor that; though the faculties are made use of, 'tis as the subject and\nnot as the cause; and that acting of the faculties in it is not the cause,\nbut is either implied in the thing itself (in the light that is imparted)\nor is the consequence of it: as the use that we make of our eyes in\nbeholding various objects, when the sun arises, is not the cause of the\nlight that discovers those objects to us.\n\n2. _'Tis not intended that outward means have no concern in this affair._\nAs I have observed already, 'tis not in this affair, as it is in\ninspiration, where new truths are suggested: for here is by this light\nonly given a due apprehension of the same truths that are revealed in the\nword of God; and therefore it is not given without the word. The gospel is\nmade use of in this affair: this light is the \"light of the glorious\ngospel of Christ,\" 2 Cor. iv. 4. The gospel is as a glass, by which this\nlight is conveyed to us, 1 Cor. xiii. 12: \"Now we see through a\nglass.\"--But,\n\n3. When it is said that this light is given immediately by God, and not\nobtained by natural means, _hereby is intended, that 'tis given by God\nwithout making use of any means that operate by their own power, or a\nnatural force_. God makes use of means; but 'tis not as mediate causes to\nproduce this effect. There are not truly any second causes of it; but it\nis produced by God immediately. The word of God is no proper cause of this\neffect: it does not operate by any natural force in it. The word of God is\nonly made use of to convey to the mind the subject matter of this saving\ninstruction: and this indeed it doth convey to us by natural force or\ninfluence. It conveys to our minds these and those doctrines; it is the\ncause of the notion of them in our heads, but not of the sense of the\ndivine excellency of them in our hearts. Indeed a person can't have\nspiritual light without the word. But that don't argue that the word\nproperly causes that light. The mind can't see the excellency of any\ndoctrine, unless that doctrine be first in the mind; but the seeing of the\nexcellency of the doctrine may be immediately from the Spirit of God;\nthough the conveying of the doctrine or proposition itself may be by the\nword. So that the notions that are the subject matter of this light are\nconveyed to the mind by the word of God; but that due sense of the heart,\nwherein this light formally consists, is immediately by the Spirit of God.\nAs for instance, that notion that there is a Christ, and that Christ is\nholy and gracious, is conveyed to the mind by the word of God: but the\nsense of the excellency of Christ by reason of that holiness and grace, is\nnevertheless immediately the work of the Holy Spirit.--I come now,\n\nIII. To show _the truth of the doctrine_; that is, to show that there is\nsuch a thing as that spiritual light that has been described, thus\nimmediately let into the mind by God. And here I would show briefly, that\nthis doctrine is both _scriptural_ and _rational_.\n\nFirst, 'Tis _scriptural_. My text is not only full to the purpose, but\n'tis a doctrine that the Scripture abounds in. We are there abundantly\ntaught that the saints differ from the ungodly in this, that they have the\nknowledge of God, and a sight of God, and of Jesus Christ. I shall mention\nbut few texts of many. 1 John iii. 6, \"Whosoever sinneth hath not seen\nhim, nor known him.\" 3 John 11, \"He that doeth good is of God: but he that\ndoeth evil hath not seen God.\" John xiv. 19, \"The world seeth me no more;\nbut ye see me.\" John xvii. 3, \"And this is eternal life, that they might\nknow thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.\" This\nknowledge, or sight of God and Christ, can't be a mere speculative\nknowledge; because it is spoken of as a seeing and knowing wherein they\ndiffer from the ungodly. And by these Scriptures it must not only be a\ndifferent knowledge in degree and circumstances, and different in its\neffects; but it must be entirely different in nature and kind.\n\nAnd this light and knowledge is always spoken of as immediately given of\nGod, Matt. xi. 25, 26, 27: \"At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank\nthee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these\nthings from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even\nso, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered\nunto me of my father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father: neither\nknoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son\nwill reveal him.\" Here this effect is ascribed alone to the arbitrary\noperation and gift of God, bestowing this knowledge on whom he will, and\ndistinguishing those with it, that have the least natural advantage or\nmeans for knowledge, even babes, when it is denied to the wise and\nprudent. And the imparting of the knowledge of God is here appropriated to\nthe Son of God as his sole prerogative. And again, 2 Cor. iv. 6: \"For God,\nwho commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our\nhearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face\nof Jesus Christ.\" This plainly shows that there is such a thing as a\ndiscovery of the divine superlative glory and excellency of God and\nChrist, and that peculiar to the saints: and also, that 'tis as\nimmediately from God, as light from the sun: and that 'tis the immediate\neffect of his power and will; for 'tis compared to God's creating the\nlight by his powerful word in the beginning of the creation; and is said\nto be by the Spirit of the Lord, in the 18th verse of the preceding\nchapter. God is spoken of as giving the knowledge of Christ in conversion,\nas of what before was hidden and unseen in that, Gal. i. 15, 16: \"But when\nit pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by\nhis grace, to reveal his Son in me.\" The Scripture also speaks plainly of\nsuch a knowledge of the word of God as has been described, as the\nimmediate gift of God, Psal. cxix. 18: \"Open thou mine eyes, that I may\nbehold wondrous things out of thy law.\" What could the Psalmist mean when\nhe begged of God to open his eyes? Was he ever blind? Might he not have\nresort to the law and see every word and sentence in it when he pleased?\nAnd what could he mean by those \"wondrous things\"? Was it the wonderful\nstories of the creation and deluge, and Israel's passing through the Red\nSea, and the like? Were not his eyes open to read these strange things\nwhen he would? Doubtless by \"wondrous things\" in God's law, he had respect\nto those distinguishing and wonderful excellencies, and marvellous\nmanifestations of the divine perfections and glory, that there was in the\ncommands and doctrines of the word, and those works and counsels of God\nthat were there revealed. So the Scripture speaks of a knowledge of God's\ndispensation, and covenant of mercy, and way of grace towards his people,\nas peculiar to the saints, and given only by God, Psal. xxv. 14: \"The\nsecret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his\ncovenant.\"\n\nAnd that a true and saving belief of the truth of religion is that which\narises from such a discovery, is also what the Scripture teaches. As John\nvi. 40: \"And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which\nseeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life;\" where it\nis plain that a true faith is what arises from a spiritual sight of\nChrist. And John xvii. 6, 7, 8: \"I have manifested thy name unto the men\nwhich thou gavest me out of the world. Now they have known that all things\nwhatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the\nwords which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known\nsurely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst\nsend me;\" where Christ's manifesting God's name to the disciples, or\ngiving them the knowledge of God, was that whereby they knew that Christ's\ndoctrine was of God, and that Christ himself was of him, proceeded from\nhim, and was sent by him. Again, John xii. 44, 45, 46: \"Jesus cried and\nsaid, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent\nme. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. I am come a light into\nthe world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.\"\nTheir believing in Christ, and spiritually seeing him, are spoken of as\nrunning parallel.\n\nChrist condemns the Jews, that they did not know that he was the Messiah,\nand that his doctrine was true, from an inward distinguishing taste and\nrelish of what was divine, in Luke xii. 56, 57. He having there blamed the\nJews, that though they could discern the face of the sky and of the earth,\nand signs of the weather, that yet they could not discern those times--or,\nas 'tis expressed in Matthew, the signs of those times--he adds, yea, and\nwhy even of your own selves judge ye not what is right? i.e., without\nextrinsic signs. Why have ye not that sense of true excellency, whereby ye\nmay distinguish that which is holy and divine? Why have ye not that savor\nof the things of God, by which you may see the distinguishing glory and\nevident divinity of me and my doctrine?\n\nThe Apostle Peter mentions it as what gave them (the apostles) good and\nwell grounded assurance of the truth of the gospel, that they had seen the\ndivine glory of Christ, 2 Pet. i. 16: \"For we have not followed cunningly\ndevised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our\nLord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.\" The apostle has\nrespect to that visible glory of Christ which they saw in his\ntransfiguration: that glory was so divine, having such an ineffable\nappearance and semblance of divine holiness, majesty and grace, that it\nevidently denoted him to be a divine person. But if a sight of Christ's\noutward glory might give a rational assurance of his divinity, why may not\nan apprehension of his spiritual glory do so too? Doubtless Christ's\nspiritual glory is in itself as distinguishing, and as plainly showing his\ndivinity, as his outward glory; and a great deal more: for his spiritual\nglory is that wherein his divinity consists; and the outward glory of his\ntransfiguration showed him to be divine, only as it was a remarkable image\nor representation of that spiritual glory. Doubtless, therefore, he that\nhas had a clear sight of the spiritual glory of Christ, may say, I have\nnot followed cunningly devised fables, but have been an eyewitness of his\nmajesty, upon as good grounds as the apostle, when he had respect to the\noutward glory of Christ that he had seen.\n\nBut this brings me to what was proposed next, viz., to show that,\n\nSecondly, This doctrine is _rational_.\n\n1. 'Tis rational to suppose that _there is really such an excellency_ in\ndivine things, that is so transcendent and exceedingly different from what\nis in other things, that, if it were seen, would most evidently\ndistinguish them. We cannot rationally doubt but that things that are\ndivine, that appertain to the Supreme Being, are vastly different from\nthings that are human; that there is that godlike, high and glorious\nexcellency in them, that does most remarkably difference them from the\nthings that are of men; insomuch that if the difference were but seen, it\nwould have a convincing, satisfying influence upon any one, that they are\nwhat they are, viz., divine. What reason can be offered against it? Unless\nwe would argue, that God is not remarkably distinguished in glory from\nmen.\n\nIf Christ should now appear to any one as he did on the mount at his\ntransfiguration; or if he should appear to the world in the glory that he\nnow appears in in heaven as he will do at the day of judgment; without\ndoubt, the glory and majesty that he would appear in, would be such as\nwould satisfy every one that he was a divine person, and that religion was\ntrue: and it would be a most reasonable and well grounded conviction too.\nAnd why may there not be that stamp of divinity or divine glory on the\nword of God, on the scheme and doctrine of the gospel, that may be in\nlike manner distinguishing and as rationally convincing, provided it be\nbut seen! 'Tis rational to suppose that when God speaks to the world,\nthere should be something in his word or speech vastly different from\nmen's word. Supposing that God never had spoken to the world, but we had\nnoticed that he was about to do it; that he was about to reveal himself\nfrom heaven and speak to us immediately himself, in divine speeches or\ndiscourses, as it were from his own mouth, or that he should give us a\nbook of his own inditing: after what manner should we expect that he would\nspeak? Would it not be rational to suppose that his speech would be\nexceeding different from men's speech, that he should speak like a God;\nthat is, that there should be such an excellency and sublimity in his\nspeech or word, such a stamp of wisdom, holiness, majesty and other divine\nperfections, that the word of men, yea of the wisest of men, should appear\nmean and base in comparison of it? Doubtless it would be thought rational\nto expect this, and unreasonable to think otherwise. When a wise man\nspeaks in the exercise of his wisdom, there is something in every thing he\nsays that is very distinguishable from the talk of a little child. So,\nwithout doubt, and much more, is the speech of God (if there be any such\nthing as the speech of God) to be distinguished from that of the wisest of\nmen; agreeable to Jer. xxiii. 28, 29. God having there been reproving the\nfalse prophets that prophesied in his name and pretended that what they\nspake was his word, when indeed it was their own word, says, \"The prophet\nthat hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him\nspeak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.\nIs not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that\nbreaketh the rock in pieces?\"\n\n2. If there be such a distinguishing excellency in divine things, 'tis\nrational to suppose that _there may be such a thing as seeing it_. What\nshould hinder but that it may be seen! It is no argument, that there is\nno such thing as such a distinguishing excellency, or that, if there be,\nthat it can't be seen, that some don't see it, though they may be\ndiscerning men in temporal matters. It is not rational to suppose, if\nthere be any such excellency in divine things, that wicked men should see\nit. 'Tis not rational to suppose that those whose minds are full of\nspiritual pollution, and under the power of filthy lusts, should have any\nrelish or sense of divine beauty or excellency; or that their minds should\nbe susceptive of that light that is in its own nature so pure and\nheavenly. It need not seem at all strange that sin should so blind the\nmind, seeing that men's particular natural tempers and dispositions will\nso much blind them in secular matters; as when men's natural temper is\nmelancholy, jealous, fearful, proud, or the like.\n\n3. 'Tis rational to suppose that _this knowledge should be given\nimmediately by God_, and not be obtained by natural means. Upon what\naccount should it seem unreasonable, that there should be any immediate\ncommunication between God and the creature? It is strange that men should\nmake any matter of difficulty of it. Why should not he that made all\nthings, still have something immediately to do with the things that he has\nmade? Where lies the great difficulty, if we own the being of a God, and\nthat he created all things out of nothing, of allowing some immediate\ninfluence of God on the creation still? And if it be reasonable to suppose\nit with respect to any part of the creation, it is especially so with\nrespect to reasonable, intelligent creatures; who are next to God in the\ngradation of the different orders of beings, and whose business is most\nimmediately with God; who were made on purpose for those exercises that do\nrespect God and wherein they have nextly to do with God: for reason\nteaches, that man was made to serve and glorify his Creator. And if it be\nrational to suppose that God immediately communicates himself to man in\nany affair, it is in this. 'Tis rational to suppose that God would\nreserve that knowledge and wisdom, that is of such a divine and excellent\nnature, to be bestowed immediately by himself, and that it should not be\nleft in the power of second causes. Spiritual wisdom and grace is the\nhighest and most excellent gift that ever God bestows on any creature: in\nthis the highest excellency and perfection of a rational creature\nconsists. 'Tis also immensely the most important of all divine gifts: 'tis\nthat wherein man's happiness consists, and on which his everlasting\nwelfare depends. How rational is it to suppose that God, however he has\nleft meaner goods and lower gifts to second causes, and in some sort in\ntheir power, yet should reserve this most excellent, divine and important\nof all divine communications in his own hands, to be bestowed immediately\nby himself, as a thing too great for second causes to be concerned in!\n'Tis rational to suppose that this blessing should be immediately from\nGod; for there is no gift or benefit that is in itself so nearly related\nto the divine nature, there is nothing the creature receives that is so\nmuch of God, of his nature, so much a participation of the deity: 'tis a\nkind of emanation of God's beauty, and is related to God as the light is\nto the sun. 'Tis therefore congruous and fit, that when it is given of\nGod, it should be nextly from himself, and by himself, according to his\nown sovereign will.\n\n'Tis rational to suppose that it should be beyond a man's power to obtain\nthis knowledge and light by the mere strength of natural reason; for 'tis\nnot a thing that belongs to reason, to see the beauty and loveliness of\nspiritual things; it is not a speculative thing, but depends on the sense\nof the heart. Reason, indeed, is necessary in order to it, as 'tis by\nreason only that we are become the subjects of the means of it; which\nmeans I have already shown to be necessary in order to it, though they\nhave no proper causal influence in the affair. 'Tis by reason that we\nbecome possessed of a notion of those doctrines that are the subject\nmatter of this divine light; and reason may many ways be indirectly and\nremotely an advantage to it. And reason has also to do in the acts that\nare immediately consequent on this discovery: a seeing the truth of\nreligion from hence is by reason; though it be but by one step, and the\ninference be immediate. So reason has to do in that accepting of, and\ntrusting in Christ, that is consequent on it. But if we take reason\nstrictly, not for the faculty of mental perception in general, but for\nratiocination, or a power of inferring by arguments; I say, if we take\nreason thus, the perceiving of spiritual beauty and excellency no more\nbelongs to reason than it belongs to the sense of feeling to perceive\ncolors, or to the power of seeing to perceive the sweetness of food. It is\nout of reason's province to perceive the beauty or loveliness of any\nthing: such a perception don't belong to that faculty. Reason's work is to\nperceive truth and not excellency. It is not ratiocination that gives men\nthe perception of the beauty and amiableness of a countenance, though it\nmay be many ways indirectly an advantage to it; yet 'tis no more reason\nthat immediately perceives it than it is reason that perceives the\nsweetness of honey: it depends on the sense of the heart. Reason may\ndetermine that a countenance is beautiful to others, it may determine that\nhoney is sweet to others; but it will never give me a perception of its\nsweetness.--I will conclude with a very brief\n\n\nIMPROVEMENT\n\nof what has been said.\n\nFirst, This doctrine may lead us to reflect on the goodness of God, that\nhas so ordered it, that a saving evidence of the truth of the gospel is\nsuch as is attainable by persons of mean capacities and advantages, as\nwell as those that are of the greatest parts and learning. If the evidence\nof the gospel depended only on history, and such reasonings as learned men\nonly are capable of, it would be above the reach of far the greatest part\nof mankind. But persons with but an ordinary degree of knowledge are\ncapable, without a long and subtile train of reasoning, to see the divine\nexcellency of the things of religion: they are capable of being taught by\nthe Spirit of God, as well as learned men. The evidence that is this way\nobtained is vastly better and more satisfying than all that can be\nobtained by the arguings of those that are most learned, and greatest\nmasters of reason. And babes are as capable of knowing these things as the\nwise and prudent; and they are often hid from these when they are revealed\nto those: 1 Cor. i. 26, 27, \"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that\nnot many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are\ncalled. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world....\"\n\nSecondly, This doctrine may well put us upon examining ourselves, whether\nwe have ever had this divine light that has been described let into our\nsouls. If there be such a thing indeed, and it be not only a notion or\nwhimsy of persons of weak and distempered brains, then doubtless 'tis a\nthing of great importance, whether we have thus been taught by the Spirit\nof God; whether the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the\nimage of God, hath shined unto us, giving us the light of the knowledge of\nthe glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; whether we have seen the\nSon, and believed on him, or have that faith of gospel doctrines that\narises from a spiritual sight of Christ.\n\nThirdly, All may hence be exhorted earnestly to seek this spiritual light.\nTo influence and move to it, the following things may be considered.\n\n1. This is the most _excellent and divine_ wisdom that any creature is\ncapable of. 'Tis more excellent than any human learning; 'tis far more\nexcellent than all the knowledge of the greatest philosophers or\nstatesmen. Yea, the least glimpse of the glory of God in the face of\nChrist doth more exalt and ennoble the soul than all the knowledge of\nthose that have the greatest speculative understanding in divinity\nwithout grace. This knowledge has the most noble object that is or can be,\nviz., the divine glory or excellency of God and Christ. The knowledge of\nthese objects is that wherein consists the most excellent knowledge of the\nangels, yea, of God himself.\n\n2. This knowledge is that which is above all others _sweet and joyful_.\nMen have a great deal of pleasure in human knowledge, in studies of\nnatural things; but this is nothing to that joy which arises from this\ndivine light shining into the soul. This light gives a view of those\nthings that are immensely the most exquisitely beautiful, and capable of\ndelighting the eye of the understanding. This spiritual light is the\ndawning of the light of glory in the heart. There is nothing so powerful\nas this to support persons in affliction, and to give the mind peace and\nbrightness in this stormy and dark world.\n\n3. This light is such as effectually influences the inclination, and\n_changes the nature of the soul_. It assimilates the nature to the divine\nnature, and changes the soul into an image of the same glory that is\nbeheld: 2 Cor. iii. 18, \"But we all, with open face, beholding as in a\nglass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to\nglory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.\" This knowledge will wean from\nthe world and raise the inclination to heavenly things. It will turn the\nheart to God as the fountain of good, and to choose him for the only\nportion. This light, and this only, will bring the soul to a saving close\nwith Christ. It conforms the heart to the gospel, mortifies its enmity and\nopposition against the scheme of salvation therein revealed. It causes the\nheart to embrace the joyful tidings, and entirely to adhere to, and\nacquiesce in the revelation of Christ as our Saviour. It causes the whole\nsoul to accord and symphonize with it, admitting it with entire credit and\nrespect, cleaving to it with full inclination and affection; and it\neffectually disposes the soul to give up itself entirely to Christ.\n\n4. This light, and this only, _has its fruit in an universal holiness of\nlife_. No merely notional or speculative understanding of the doctrines of\nreligion will ever bring to this. But this light, as it reaches the bottom\nof the heart, and changes the nature, so it will effectually dispose to an\nuniversal obedience. It shows God's worthiness to be obeyed and served. It\ndraws forth the heart in a sincere love to God, which is the only\nprinciple of a true, gracious and universal obedience. And it convinces of\nthe reality of those glorious rewards that God has promised to them that\nobey him.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nRUTH'S RESOLUTION deg.\n\nRUTH i. 16.--And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return\nfrom following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where\nthou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my\nGod.\n\n\nThe historical things in this book of Ruth seem to be inserted into the\ncanon of the Scripture especially on two accounts:\n\nFirst, Because Christ was of Ruth's posterity. The Holy Ghost thought fit\nto take particular notice of that marriage of Boaz with Ruth, whence\nsprang the Saviour of the world. We may often observe it, that the Holy\nSpirit who indited the Scriptures, often takes notice of little things,\nminute occurrences, that do but remotely relate to Jesus Christ.\n\nSecondly, Because this history seems to be typical of the calling of the\nGentile church, and indeed of the conversion of every believer. Ruth was\nnot originally of Israel, but was a Moabitess, an alien from the\ncommonwealth of Israel: but she forsook her own people, and the idols of\nthe Gentiles, to worship the God of Israel, and to join herself to that\npeople. Herein she seems to be a type of the Gentile church, and also of\nevery sincere convert. Ruth was the mother of Christ; he came of her\nposterity: so the church is Christ's mother, as she is represented, Rev.\nxii., at the beginning. And so also is every true Christian his mother:\nMatt. xii. 50, \"Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in\nheaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.\" Christ is what\nthe soul of every one of the elect is in travail with in the new birth.\nRuth forsook all her natural relations and her own country, the land of\nher nativity, and all her former possessions there, for the sake of the\nGod of Israel; as every true Christian forsakes all for Christ. Psalm xlv.\n10, \"Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also\nthine own people, and thy father's house.\"\n\nNaomi was now returning out of the land of Moab into the land of Israel\nwith her two daughters in law, Orpah and Ruth; who will represent to us\ntwo sorts of professors of religion: Orpah, that sort that indeed make a\nfair profession, and seem to set out well, but dure but for a while, and\nthen turn back; Ruth, that sort that are sound and sincere, and therefore\nare steadfast and persevering in the way that they have set out in. Naomi\nin the preceding verses represents to these her daughters the difficulties\nof their leaving their own country to go with her. And in this verse may\nbe observed,\n\n1. The remarkable conduct and behavior of Ruth on this occasion; with what\ninflexible resolution she cleaves to Naomi and follows her. When Naomi\nfirst arose to return from the country of Moab into the land of Israel,\nOrpah and Ruth both set out with her; and Naomi exhorts them both to\nreturn. And they both of them wept, and seemed as if they could not bear\nthe thoughts of leaving her, and appeared as if they were resolved to go\nwith her: verse 10, \"And they said unto her, Surely we will return with\nthee unto thy people.\" Then Naomi says to them again, \"Turn again, my\ndaughters, go your way,\" &c. And then they were greatly affected again,\nand Orpah returned and went back. Now Ruth's steadfastness in her purpose\nhad a greater trial, but yet is not overcome: \"She clave unto her,\" verse\n14. Then Naomi speaks to her again, verse 15, \"Behold, thy sister in law\nis gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy\nsister in law.\" And then she shows her immovable resolution in the text\nand following verse.\n\n2. I would particularly observe that wherein the virtuousness of this her\nresolution consists, viz., that it was for the sake of the God of Israel,\nand that she might be one of his people, that she was thus resolved to\ncleave to Naomi: \"Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.\" It\nwas for God's sake that she did thus; and therefore her so doing is\nafterwards spoken of as a virtuous behavior in her, chap. ii. 11, 12: \"And\nBoaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all that\nthou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband:\nand how thou hast left thy father, and thy mother, and the land of thy\nnativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.\nThe Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord\nGod of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.\" She left her\nfather and mother, and the land of her nativity, to come and trust under\nthe shadow of God's wings: and she had indeed a full reward given her, as\nBoaz wished; for besides immediate spiritual blessings to her own soul and\neternal rewards in another world, she was rewarded with plentiful and\nprosperous outward circumstances in the family of Boaz. And God raised up\nDavid and Solomon of her seed, and established the crown of Israel (the\npeople that she chose before her own people) in her posterity; and--which\nis much more--of her seed he raised up Jesus Christ, in whom all the\nfamilies of the earth are blessed.\n\nFrom the words thus opened, I observe this for the subject of my present\ndiscourse:\n\n     _When those that we have formerly been conversant with, are turning\n     to God, and joining themselves to his people, it ought to be our\n     firm resolution, that we will not leave them; but that their people\n     shall be our people, and their God our God._\n\nIt sometimes happens, that of those who have been conversant one with\nanother, that have dwelt together as neighbors, and have been often\ntogether as companions, or have been united in near relation, and have\nbeen together in darkness, bondage and misery in the service of Satan,\nsome are enlightened, and have their minds changed, are made to see the\ngreat evil of sin, and have their hearts turned to God, and are influenced\nby the Holy Spirit of God to leave their company that are on Satan's side\nto go and join themselves with that blessed company that are with Jesus\nChrist; they are made willing to forsake the tents of wickedness, to dwell\nin the land of uprightness with the people of God.\n\nAnd sometimes this proves a final parting or separation between them and\nthose that they have been formerly conversant with. Though it may be no\nparting in outward respects, they may still dwell together and may\nconverse one with another; yet in other respects, it sets them at a great\ndistance one from another: one is a child of God, and the other the enemy\nof God; one is in a miserable, and the other in a happy condition; one is\na citizen of the heavenly Zion, the other is under condemnation to hell.\nThey are no longer together in those respects wherein they used to be\ntogether. They used to be of one mind to serve sin and do Satan's work;\nnow they are of contrary minds. They used to be together in worldliness\nand sinful vanity; now they are of exceeding different dispositions. They\nare separated as they are in different kingdoms; the one remains in the\nkingdom of darkness, the other is translated into the kingdom of God's\ndear Son. And sometimes they are finally separated in these respects;\nwhile one dwells in the land of Israel, and in the house of God, the\nother, like Orpah, lives and dies in the land of Moab.\n\nNow 'tis lamentable when it is thus. 'Tis awful being parted so. 'Tis\ndoleful, when of those that have formerly been together in sin, some turn\nto God, and join themselves with his people, that it should prove a\nparting between them and their former companions and acquaintance. It\nshould be our firm and inflexible resolution in such a case that it shall\nbe no parting, but that we will follow them, that their people shall be\nour people, and their God our God; and that for the following reasons:\n\nI. Because their _God_ is a glorious God. There is none like him, who is\ninfinite in glory and excellency. He is the most high God, glorious in\nholiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. His name is excellent in all\nthe earth, and his glory is above the earth and the heavens. Among the\ngods there is none like unto him; there is none in heaven to be compared\nto him, nor are there any among the sons of the mighty that can be likened\nunto him. Their God is the fountain of all good, and an inexhaustible\nfountain; he is an all-sufficient God, able to protect and defend them,\nand do all things for them. He is the King of glory, the Lord strong and\nmighty, the Lord mighty in battle: a strong rock, and a high tower. There\nis none like the God of Jeshurun, who rideth on the heaven in their help,\nand in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is their refuge, and\nunderneath are everlasting arms. He is a God that hath all things in his\nhands, and does whatsoever he pleases: he killeth and maketh alive; he\nbringeth down to the grave and bringeth up; he maketh poor and maketh\nrich: the pillars of the earth are the Lord's. Their God is an infinitely\nholy God; there is none holy as the Lord. And he is infinitely good and\nmerciful. Many that others worship and serve as gods are cruel beings,\nspirits that seek the ruin of souls; but this is a God that delighteth in\nmercy; his grace is infinite and endures forever. He is love itself, an\ninfinite fountain and ocean of it.\n\nSuch a God is their God! Such is the excellency of Jacob! Such is the God\nof them who have forsaken their sins and are converted! They have made a\nwise choice who have chosen this for their God. They have made a happy\nexchange indeed, that have exchanged sin and the world for such a God!\n\nThey have an excellent and glorious Saviour, who is the only-begotten Son\nof God; the brightness of his Father's glory; one in whom God from\neternity had infinite delight; a Saviour of infinite love; one that has\nshed his own blood and made his soul an offering for their sins, and one\nthat is able to save them to the uttermost.\n\nII. Their _people_ are an excellent and happy people. God has renewed\nthem, and instamped his own image upon them, and made them partakers of\nhis holiness. They are more excellent than their neighbors, Prov. xii. 26.\nYea, they are the excellent of the earth, Psalm xvi. 3. They are lovely in\nthe sight of the angels; and they have their souls adorned with those\ngraces that in the sight of God himself are of great price.\n\nThe people of God are the most excellent and happy society in the world.\nThat God whom they have chosen for their God is their Father; he has\npardoned all their sins, and they are st peace with him; and he has\nadmitted them to all the privileges of his children. As they have devoted\nthemselves to God, so God has given himself to them. He is become their\nsalvation and their portion: his power and mercy and all his attributes\nare theirs. They are in a safe state, free from all possibility of\nperishing: Satan has no power to destroy them. God carries them on eagle's\nwings, far above Satan's reach, and above the reach of all the enemies of\ntheir souls. God is with them in this world; they have his gracious\npresence. God is for them; who then can be against them? As the mountains\nare round about Jerusalem, so Jehovah is round about them. God is their\nshield and their exceeding great reward; and their fellowship is with the\nFather and with his Son Jesus Christ. And they have the divine promise\nand oath that in the world to come they shall dwell forever in the\nglorious presence of God.\n\nIt may well be sufficient to induce us to resolve to cleave to those that\nforsake their sins and idols to join themselves with this people, that God\nis with them, Zech. viii. 23: \"Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days\nit shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages\nof the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew,\nsaying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.\" So\nshould persons as it were take hold of the skirt of their neighbors and\ncompanions that have turned to God, and resolve that they will go with\nthem, because God is with them.\n\nIII. _Happiness_ is nowhere else to be had, but in their God, and with\ntheir people. There are that are called gods many, and lords many. Some\nmake gods of their pleasures; some choose Mammon for their god; some make\ngods of their own supposed excellencies, or the outward advantages they\nhave above their neighbors: some choose one thing for their god, and\nothers another. But men can be happy in no other God but the God of\nIsrael: he is the only fountain of happiness. Other gods can't help in\ncalamity; nor can any of them afford what the poor empty soul stands in\nneed of. Let men adore those other gods never so much, and call upon them\nnever so earnestly, and serve them never so diligently, they will\nnevertheless remain poor, wretched, unsatisfied, undone creatures. All\nother people are miserable, but that people whose God is the Lord.--The\nworld is divided into two societies. There are the people of God, the\nlittle flock of Jesus Christ, that company that we read of, Rev. xiv. 4.\n\"These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.\nThese are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were\nredeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.\"\nAnd there are those that belong to the kingdom of darkness, that are\nwithout Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers\nfrom the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in the\nworld. All that are of this latter company are wretched and undone; they\nare the enemies of God, and under his wrath and condemnation. They are the\ndevil's slaves, that serve him blindfold, and are befooled and ensnared by\nhim, and hurried along in the broad way to eternal perdition.\n\nIV. When those that we have formerly been conversant with are turning to\nGod, and to his people, their _example_ ought to influence us. Their\nexample should be looked upon as the call of God to us to do as they have\ndone. God, when he changes the heart of one, calls upon another;\nespecially does he loudly call on those that have been their friends and\nacquaintance. We have been influenced by their examples in evil; and shall\nwe cease to follow them when they make the wisest choice that ever they\nmade, and do the best thing that ever they did? If we have been companions\nwith them in worldliness, in vanity, in unprofitable and sinful\nconversation, it will be a hard case, if there must be a parting now,\nbecause we be not willing to be companions with them in holiness and true\nhappiness. Men are greatly influenced by seeing one another's prosperity\nin other things. If those whom they have been much conversant with grow\nrich, and obtain any great earthly advantages, it awakens their ambition\nand eager desire after the like prosperity. How much more should they be\ninfluenced, and stirred up to follow them, and be like them, when they\nobtain that spiritual and eternal happiness that is of infinitely more\nworth than all the prosperity and glory of this world!\n\nV. Our resolutions to cleave to and follow those that are turning to God,\nand joining themselves to his people, ought to be _fixed_ and _strong_,\nbecause of the great difficulty of it. If we will cleave to them, and have\ntheir God for our God, and their people for our people, we must mortify\nand deny all our lusts, and cross every evil appetite and inclination, and\nforever part with all sin. But our lusts are many and violent. Sin is\nnaturally exceeding dear to us; to part with it is compared to plucking\nout our right eyes. Men may refrain from wonted ways of sin for a little\nwhile, and may deny their lusts in a partial degree, with less difficulty;\nbut 'tis heart-rending work, finally to part with all sin, and to give our\ndearest lusts a bill of divorce, utterly to send them away. But this we\nmust do, if we would follow those that are truly turning to God. Yea, we\nmust not only forsake sin, but must, in a sense, forsake all the world:\nLuke xiv. 33, \"Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all he hath, he\ncannot be my disciple.\" That is, he must forsake all in his heart, and\nmust come to a thorough disposition and readiness actually to quit all for\nGod and the glorious spiritual privileges of his people, whenever the case\nmay require it; and that without any prospect of any thing of the like\nnature, or any worldly thing whatsoever, to make amends for it; and all to\ngo into a strange country, a land that has hitherto been unseen; like\nAbraham, who being called of God, \"went out of his own country, and from\nhis kindred, and from his father's house, for a land that God should show\nhim, not knowing whither he went.\"\n\nThus it was a hard thing for Ruth to forsake her native country and her\nfather and mother, her kindred and acquaintance, and all the pleasant\nthings she had in the land of Moab, to dwell in the land of Israel, where\nshe never had been. Naomi told her of the difficulties once and again.\nThey were too hard for her sister Orpah; the consideration of them turned\nher back after she was set out. Her resolution was not firm enough to\novercome them. But so firmly resolved was Ruth, that she broke through\nall; she was steadfast in it, that, let the difficulty be what it would,\nshe would not leave her mother in law. So persons had need to be very firm\nin their resolution to conquer the difficulties that are in the way of\ncleaving to them who are indeed turning from sin to God.\n\nOur cleaving to them, and having their God for our God and their people\nfor our people, depends on our resolution and choice; and that in two\nrespects.\n\n1. The firmness of resolution in using means in order to it, is _the way\nto have means effectual_. There are means appointed in order to our\nbecoming some of the true Israel and having their God for our God; and the\nthorough use of these means is the way to have success; but not a slack or\nslighty use of them. And that we may be thorough, there is need of\nstrength of resolution, a firm and inflexible disposition and bent of mind\nto be universal in the use of means, and to do what we do with our might,\nand to persevere in it. Matt. xi. 12, \"The kingdom of heaven suffereth\nviolence, and the violent take it by force.\"\n\n2. A choosing of their God and their people, with a full determination and\nwith the whole soul, is _the condition of an union with them_. God gives\nevery man his choice in this matter: as Orpah and Ruth had their choice,\nwhether they would go with Naomi into the land of Israel, or stay in the\nland of Moab. A natural man may choose deliverance from hell; but no man\ndoth ever heartily choose God and Christ, and the spiritual benefits that\nChrist has purchased, and the happiness of God's people, till he is\nconverted. On the contrary, he is averse to them; he has no relish of\nthem; and is wholly ignorant of the inestimable worth and value of them.\n\nMany carnal men do seem to choose these things, but do it not really: as\nOrpah seemed at first to choose to forsake Moab to go into the land of\nIsrael. But when Naomi came to set before her the difficulty of it, she\nwent back; and thereby showed that she was not fully determined in her\nchoice, and that her whole soul was not in it as Ruth's was.\n\n\nAPPLICATION\n\nThe use that I shall make of what has been said is to move sinners to this\nresolution, with respect to those amongst us that have lately turned to\nGod, and joined themselves to the flock of Christ. Through the abundant\nmercy and grace of God to us in this place, it may be said of many of you\nthat are in a Christless condition, that you have lately been left by\nthose that were formerly with you in such a state. There are those that\nyou have formerly been conversant with that have lately forsaken a life of\nsin and the service of Satan, and have turned to God, and fled to Christ,\nand joined themselves to that blessed company that are with him. They\nformerly were with you in sin and in misery; but now they are with you no\nmore in that state or manner of life. They are changed, and have fled from\nthe wrath to come; they have chosen a life of holiness here and the\nenjoyment of God hereafter. They were formerly your associates in bondage,\nand were with you in Satan's business; but now you have their company no\nlonger in these things. Many of you have seen those you live with, under\nthe same roof, turning from being any longer with you in sin, to be with\nthe people of Jesus Christ. Some of you that are husbands have had your\nwives; and some of you that are wives have had your husbands; some of you\nthat are children have had your parents; and parents have had your\nchildren; many of you have had your brothers and sisters; and many your\nnear neighbors and acquaintance and special friends; many of you that are\nyoung have had your companions: I say, many of you have had those that you\nhave been thus concerned with, leaving you, forsaking that doleful life\nand wretched state that you still continue in. God, of his good pleasure\nand wonderful grace, hath lately caused it to be so in this place that\nmultitudes have been forsaking their old abodes in the land of Moab, and\nunder the gods of Moab, and going into the land of Israel, to put their\ntrust under the wings of the Lord God of Israel. Though you and they have\nbeen nearly related, and have dwelt together, or have been often together\nand intimately acquainted one with another, they have been taken and you\nhitherto left. O let it not be the foundation of a final parting! But\nearnestly follow them; be firm in your resolution in this matter. Don't do\nas Orpah did, who, though at first she made as though she would follow\nNaomi, yet when she had the difficulty of it set before her went back: but\nsay as Ruth, \"I will not leave thee; but where thou goest, I will go: thy\npeople shall be my people, and thy God my God.\" Say as she said, and do as\nshe did. Consider the excellency of their God and their Saviour, and the\nhappiness of their people, the blessed state that they are in, and the\ndoleful state that you are in.\n\nYou who are old sinners, who have lived long in the service of Satan, have\nlately seen some that were with you, that have travelled with you in the\npaths of sin these many years, that with you enjoyed great means and\nadvantages, that have had calls and warnings with you, and have with you\npassed through remarkable times of the pouring out of God's Spirit in this\nplace, and have hardened their hearts and stood it out with you, and with\nyou have grown old in sin; I say, you have seen some of them turning to\nGod, i.e., you have seen those evidences of it in them, whence you may\nrationally judge that it is so. O let it not be a final parting! You have\nbeen thus long together in sin, and under condemnation; let it be your\nfirm resolution, that, if possible, you will be with them still, now they\nare in a holy and happy state, and that you will follow them into the holy\nand pleasant land.\n\nYou that tell of your having been seeking salvation for many years,\nthough, without doubt, in a poor dull way, in comparison of what you ought\nto have done, have seen some that have been with you in that respect, that\nwere old sinners and old seekers, as you are, obtaining mercy. God has\nlately roused them from their dulness, and caused them to alter their\nhand, and put them on more thorough endeavors; and they have now, after so\nlong a time, heard God's voice, and have fled for refuge to the Rock of\nAges. Let this awaken earnestness and resolution in you. Resolve that you\nwill not leave them.\n\nYou that are in your youth, how many have you seen of your age and\nstanding that have of late hopefully chosen God for their God and Christ\nfor their Saviour! You have followed them in sin, and have perhaps\nfollowed them into vain company; and will you not now follow them to\nChrist?\n\nAnd you that are children, there have lately been some of your sort that\nhave repented of their sins, and have loved the Lord Jesus Christ, and\ntrusted in him, and are become God's children, as we have reason to hope:\nlet it stir you up to resolve to your utmost to seek and cry to God, that\nyou may have the like change made in your hearts, that their people may be\nyour people, and their God your God.\n\nYou that are great sinners, that have made yourselves distinguishingly\nguilty by the wicked practices you have lived in, there are some of your\nsort that have lately (as we have reason to hope) had their hearts broken\nfor sin, and have forsaken it, and trusted in the blood of Christ for the\npardon of it, and have chosen a holy life, and have betaken themselves to\nthe ways of wisdom: let it excite and encourage you resolutely to cleave\nto them and earnestly to follow them.\n\nLet the following things be here considered:--\n\n1. That your soul is as precious as theirs. It is immortal as theirs is;\nand stands in as much need of happiness, and can as ill bear eternal\nmisery. You were born in the same miserable condition that they were,\nhaving the same wrath of God abiding on you. You must stand before the\nsame Judge; who will be as strict in judgment with you as with them; and\nyour own righteousness will stand you in no more stead before him than\ntheirs; and therefore you stand in as absolute necessity of a Saviour as\nthey. Carnal confidences can no more answer your end than theirs; nor can\nthis world or its enjoyments serve to make you happy without God and\nChrist more than them. When the bridegroom comes, the foolish virgins\nstand in as much need of oil as the wise, Matt. xxv. at the beginning.\n\n2. Unless you follow them in their turning to God, their conversion will\nbe a foundation of an eternal separation between you and them. You will be\nin different interests and in exceeding different states, as long as you\nlive; they the children of God, and you the children of Satan; and you\nwill be parted in another world; when you come to die, there will be a\nvast separation made between you: Luke xvi. 26, \"And besides all this,\nbetween us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would\npass from hence to you, cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would\ncome from thence.\" And you will be parted at the day of judgment. You will\nbe parted at Christ's first appearance in the clouds of heaven. While they\nare caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, to be ever with\nthe Lord, you will remain below, confined to this cursed ground, that is\nkept in store, reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment and\nperdition of ungodly men. You will appear separated from them while you\nstand before the great judgment-seat, they being at the right hand, while\nyou are set at the left: Matt. xxv. 32, 33, \"And before him shall be\ngathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a\nshepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on\nhis right hand, but the goats on the left.\" And you shall then appear in\nexceeding different circumstances. While you stand with devils, in the\nimage and deformity of devils, and in ineffable horror and amazement, they\nshall appear in glory, sitting upon thrones, as assessors with Christ, and\nas such passing judgment upon you, 1 Cor. vi. 2. And what shame and\nconfusion will then cover you, when so many of your contemporaries, your\nequals, your neighbors, relations and companions, shall be honored, and\nopenly acknowledged and confessed by the glorious Judge of the universe\nand Redeemer of saints, and shall be seen by you sitting with him in such\nglory, and you shall appear to have neglected your salvation, and not to\nhave improved your opportunities, and rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, the\nsame person that will then appear as your great Judge, and you shall be\nthe subjects of wrath, and, as it were, trodden down in eternal contempt\nand disgrace! Dan. xii. 2, \"Some shall rise to everlasting life, and some\nto shame and everlasting contempt.\" And what a wide separation will the\nsentence then passed and executed make between you and them! When you\nshall be sent away out of the presence of the Judge with indignation and\nabhorrence, as cursed and loathsome creatures, and they shall be sweetly\naccosted and invited into his glory as his dear friends and the blessed of\nhis Father! When you, with all that vast throng of wicked and accursed men\nand devils, shall descend with loud lamentings and horrid shrieks into\nthat dreadful gulf of fire and brimstone, and shall be swallowed up in\nthat great and everlasting furnace, while they shall joyfully, and with\nsweet songs of glory and praise, ascend with Christ, and all that\nbeauteous and blessed company of saints and angels, into eternal felicity,\nin the glorious presence of God, and the sweet embraces of his love; and\nyou and they shall spend eternity in such a separation and immensely\ndifferent circumstances! And that however you have been intimately\nacquainted and nearly related, closely united and mutually conversant here\nin this world; and how much soever you have taken delight in each other's\ncompany! Shall it be so after you have been together a great while, each\nof you in undoing yourselves, enhancing your guilt, and heaping up wrath,\nthat their so wisely changing their minds and their course, and choosing\nsuch happiness for themselves, should now at length be the beginning of\nsuch an exceeding and everlasting separation between you and them? How\nawful will it be to be parted so!\n\n3. Consider the great encouragement that God gives you, earnestly to\nstrive for the same blessing that others have obtained. There is great\nencouragement in the word of God to sinners to seek salvation, in the\nrevelation we have of the abundant provision made for the salvation even\nof the chief of sinners, and in the appointment of so many means to be\nused with and by sinners, in order to their salvation; and by the blessing\nwhich God in his word connects with the means of his appointment. There is\nhence great encouragement for all, at all times, that will be thorough in\nusing of these means. But now God gives extraordinary encouragement in his\nprovidence, by pouring out his Spirit so remarkably amongst us, and\nbringing savingly home to himself all sorts, young and old, rich and poor,\nwise and unwise, sober and vicious, old self-righteous seekers and\nprofligate livers: no sort are exempt. There is now at this day amongst us\nthe loudest call and the greatest encouragement and the widest door open\nto sinners, to escape out of a state of sin and condemnation that perhaps\nGod ever granted in New England. Who is there that has an immortal soul so\nsottish as not to improve such an opportunity, and that won't bestir\nhimself with all his might now? How unreasonable is negligence, and how\nexceeding unseasonable is discouragement, at such a day as this! Will you\nbe so stupid as to neglect your soul now? Will any mortal amongst us be so\nunreasonable as to lag behind, or look back in discouragement when God\nopens such a door? Let every single person be thoroughly awake! Let every\none encourage himself now to press forward, and fly for his life!\n\n4. Consider how earnestly desirous they that have obtained are that you\nshould follow them, and that their people should be your people, and their\nGod your God. They desire that you should partake of that great good that\nGod has given them, and that unspeakable and eternal blessedness that he\nhas promised them. They wish and long for it. If you do not go with them,\nand are not still of their company, it won't be for want of their\nwillingness, but your own. That of Moses to Hobab is the language of every\ntrue saint of your acquaintance to you, Numb. x. 29, \"We are journeying\nunto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you: come thou with\nus, and we will do thee good: for the Lord hath spoken good concerning\nIsrael.\" As Moses, when on his journey through the wilderness, following\nthe pillar of cloud and fire, invited Hobab, that he had been acquainted\nwith and nearly allied to out of the land of Midian, where Moses had\nformerly dwelt with him, to go with him and his people to Canaan, to\npartake with them in the good that God had promised them; so do those of\nyour friends and acquaintance invite you, out of a land of darkness and\nwickedness, where they have formerly been with you, to go with them to the\nheavenly Canaan. The company of saints, the true church of Christ, invite\nyou. The lovely bride calls you to the marriage supper. She hath authority\nto invite guests to her own wedding; and you ought to look on her\ninvitation and desire as the call of Christ the bridegroom; for it is the\nvoice of his Spirit in her: Rev. xxii. 17, \"The Spirit and the bride say,\nCome.\" Where seems to be a reference to what had been said, chap. xix.\n7-9, \"The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself\nready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,\nclean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he\nsaith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage\nsupper of the Lamb.\" 'Tis with respect to this her marriage supper that\nshe, from the motion of the Spirit of the Lamb in her, says, Come. So that\nyou are invited on all hands; all conspire to call you. God the Father\ninvites you: this is the King that has made a marriage for his Son; and he\nsends forth his servants, the ministers of the gospel, to invite the\nguests. And the Son himself invites you: 'tis he that speaks, Rev. xvii.\n17, \"And let him that heareth say, Come; and let him that is athirst,\ncome; and whosoever will, let him come.\" He tells us who he is in the\nforegoing verse, \"I Jesus, the root and offspring of David, the bright and\nmorning star.\" And God's ministers invite you, and all the church invites\nyou; and there will be joy in the presence of the angels of God that hour\nthat you accept the invitation.\n\n5. Consider what a doleful company that will be that be left after this\nextraordinary time of mercy is over. We have reason to think that there\nwill be a number left. We read that when Ezekiel's healing waters\nincreased so abundantly, and the healing effect of them was so very\ngeneral; yet there were certain places, where the water came, that never\nwere healed: Ezek. xlvii. 9-11, \"And it shall come to pass, that every\nthing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come,\nshall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because\nthese waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing\nshall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that the\nfishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim; they shall\nbe a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their\nkinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places\nthereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given\nto salt.\" And even in the apostles' times, when there was such wonderful\nsuccess of the gospel, yet wherever they came, there were some that did\nnot believe: Acts xiii. 48, \"And when the Gentiles heard this, they were\nglad, and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were ordained to\neternal life, believed.\" And chap. xxviii. 24, \"And some believed, and\nsome believed not.\" So we have no reason to expect but there will be some\nleft amongst us. 'Tis to be hoped it will be a small company. But what a\ndoleful company will it be! How darkly and awfully will it look upon them!\nIf you shall be of that company, how well may your friends and relations\nlament over you, and bemoan your dark and dangerous circumstances! If you\nwould not be one of them, make haste, delay not and look not behind you.\nShall all sorts obtain, shall every one press into the kingdom of God,\nwhile you stay loitering behind in a doleful undone condition? Shall every\none take heaven, while you remain with no other portion but this world?\nNow take up that resolution, that if it be possible you will cleave to\nthem that have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before them.\nCount the cost of a thorough, violent, and perpetual pursuit of salvation,\nand forsake all, as Ruth forsook her own country and all her pleasant\nenjoyments in it. Don't do as Orpah did; who set out, and then was\ndiscouraged, and went back: but hold out with Ruth through all\ndiscouragement and opposition. When you consider others that have chosen\nthe better part, let that resolution be ever firm with you: \"Where thou\ngoest, I will go; where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my\npeople, and thy God my God.\"\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nTHE MANY MANSIONS deg.\n\nJOHN xiv. 2.--In my Father's house are many mansions.\n\n\nIn these words may be observed two things,\n\n1. The thing described, viz., Christ's Father's house. Christ spoke to his\ndisciples in the foregoing chapter as one that was about to leave them. He\ntold 'em, verse 31, \"Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified\nin him,\" and then goes to giving of them counsel to live in unity and love\none another, as one that was going from them. By which they seemed\nsomewhat surprised and hardly knew what to make of it. And one of them,\nviz., Peter, asked him where he was going; verse 36, \"Simon Peter said\nunto him, Lord, whither goest thou?\" Christ did not directly answer and\ntell him where he was going, but he signifies where in these words of the\ntext, viz., to his Father's house, i.e., to heaven, and afterwards, in\nthe verse 12, he tells 'em plainly that he was going to his Father.\n\n2. We may observe the description given of it, viz., that in it there are\nmany mansions. The disciples seemed very sorrowful at the news of Christ's\ngoing away, but Christ comforts 'em with that, that in his Father's house\nwhere he was going there was not only room for him, but room for them too.\nThere were many mansions. There was not only a mansion there for him, but\nthere were mansions enough for them all; there was room enough in heaven\nfor them. When the disciples perceived that Christ was going away, they\nmanifested a great desire to go with him, and particularly Peter. Peter\nin the latter part of the foregoing chapter asked him whither he went to\nthat end that he might follow him. Christ told him that whither he went he\ncould not follow him now, but that he should follow him afterwards. But\nPeter, not content with Christ, seemed to have a great mind to follow him\nnow. \"Lord,\" says he, \"why cannot I follow thee now?\" So that the\ndisciples had a great mind still to be with Christ, and Christ in the\nwords of the text intimates that they shall be with him. Christ signifies\nto 'em that he was going home to his Father's house, and he encourages 'em\nthat they shall be with him there in due time, in that there were many\nmansions there. There was a mansion provided not only for him, but for\nthem all (for Judas was not then present), and not only for them, but for\nall that should ever believe in him to the end of the world; and though he\nwent before, he only went to prepare a place for them that should follow.\n\nThe text is a plain sentence; 'tis therefore needless to press any\ndoctrine in other words from it: so that I shall build my discourse on the\nwords of the text. There are two propositions contained in the words,\nviz., I, that heaven is God's house, and II, that in this house of God\nthere are many mansions.\n\nProp. I. Heaven is God's house. An house of public worship is an house\nwhere God's people meet from time to time to attend on God's ordinances,\nand that is set apart for that and is called God's house. The temple of\nSolomon was called God's house. God was represented as dwelling there.\nThere he had his throne in the holy of holies, even the mercy-seat over\nthe ark and between the cherubims.\n\nSometimes the whole universe is represented in Scripture as God's house,\nbuilt with various stories one above another: Amos ix. 6, \"It is he that\nbuildeth his stories in the heaven;\" and Ps. civ. 3, \"Who layeth the beams\nof his chambers in the waters.\" But the highest heaven is especially\nrepresented in Scripture as the house of God. As to other parts of the\ncreation, God hath appointed them to inferior uses; but this part he has\nreserved for himself for his own abode. We are told that the heavens are\nthe Lord's, but the earth he hath given to the sons of men. God, though he\nis everywhere present, is represented both in Old Testament and New as\nbeing in heaven in a special and peculiar manner. Heaven is the temple of\nGod. Thus we read of God's temple in heaven, Rev. xv. 5. Solomon's temple\nwas a type of heaven; it was made exceeding magnificent and, costly partly\nto that end, that it might be the most lively type of heaven. The apostle\nPaul in his epistle to the Hebrews does from time to time call heaven the\nholy of holies, as being the antitype not only of the temple of Solomon,\nbut of the most holy place in that temple, which was the place of God's\nmost immediate residence: Heb. ix. 12, \"He entered in once into the holy\nplace;\" verse 24, \"For Christ is not entered into the holy places made\nwith hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself.\"\nHouses where assemblies of Christians worship God are in some respects\nfigures of this house of God above. When God is worshipped in them in\nspirit and truth, they become the outworks of heaven and as it were its\ngates. As in houses of public worship here there are assemblies of\nChristians meeting to worship God, so in heaven there is a glorious\nassembly, or Church, continually worshipping God: Heb. xii. 22, 23, \"But\nye are come unto mount Sion, [and unto] the city of the living God, the\nheavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the\ngeneral assembly and church of the firstborn, that are written in heaven.\"\n\nHeaven is represented in Scripture as God's dwelling-house; Ps. cxiii. 5,\n\"Who is like [unto] the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high,\" and Ps.\ncxxiii. 1, \"Unto thee I lift up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the\nheavens.\" Heaven is God's palace. 'Tis the house of the great King of the\nuniverse; there he has his throne, which is therefore represented as his\nhouse or temple; Ps. xi. 4, \"The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's\nthrone is in heaven.\"\n\nHeaven is the house where God dwells with his family. God is represented\nin Scripture as having a family; and though some of this family are now on\nearth, yet in so being they are abroad and not at home, but all going\nhome: Eph. iii. 15, \"Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is\nnamed.\" Heaven is the place that God has built for himself and his\nchildren. God has many children, and the place designed for them is\nheaven; therefore the saints, being the children of God, are said to be of\nthe household of God, Eph. ii. 19: \"Now therefore ye are no more strangers\nand foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household\nof God.\" God is represented as a householder or head of a family, and\nheaven is his house.\n\nHeaven is the house not only where God hath his throne, but also where he\ndoth as it were keep his table, where his children sit down with him at\nhis table and where they are feasted in a royal manner becoming the\nchildren of so great a King: Luke xxii. 30, \"That ye may eat and drink at\nmy table in my kingdom;\" Matt. xxvi. 29, \"But I say unto you, I will not\ndrink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it\nnew with you in my Father's kingdom.\"\n\nGod is the King of kings, and heaven is the place where he keeps his\ncourt. There are his angels and archangels that as the nobles of his court\ndo attend upon him.\n\nProp. II. There are many mansions in the house of God. By many mansions is\nmeant many seats or places of abode. As it is a king's palace, there are\nmany mansions. Kings' houses are wont to be built very large, with many\nstately rooms and apartments. So there are many mansions in God's house.\n\nWhen this is spoken of heaven, it is chiefly to be understood in a\nfigurative sense, and the following things seem to be taught us in it.\n\n1. There is room in this house of God for great numbers. There is room in\nheaven for a vast multitude, yea, room enough for all mankind that are or\never shall be; Luke xiv. 22, \"Lord it is done as thou hast commanded, and\nyet there is room.\"\n\nIt is not with the heavenly temple as it often is with houses of public\nworship in this world, that they fill up and become too small and scanty\nfor those that would meet in them, so that there is not convenient room\nfor all. There is room enough in our heavenly Father's house. This is\npartly what Christ intended in the words of the text, as is evident from\nthe occasion of his speaking them. The disciples manifested a great desire\nto be where Christ was, and Christ therefore, to encourage them that it\nshould be as they desired, tells them that in his Father's house where he\nwas going were many mansions, i.e., room enough for them.\n\nThere is mercy enough in God to admit an innumerable multitude into\nheaven. There is mercy enough for all, and there is merit enough in Christ\nto purchase heavenly happiness for millions of millions, for all men that\never were, are or shall be. And there is a sufficiency in the fountain of\nheaven's happiness to supply and fill and satisfy all: and there is in all\nrespects enough for the happiness of all.\n\n2. There are sufficient and suitable accommodations for all the different\nsorts of persons that are in the world: for great and small, for high and\nlow, rich and poor, wise and unwise, bond and free, persons of all nations\nand all conditions and circumstances, for those that have been great\nsinners as well as for moral livers; for weak saints and those that are\nbabes in Christ as well as for those that are stronger and more grown in\ngrace. There is in heaven a sufficiency for the happiness of every sort;\nthere is a convenient accommodation for every creature that will hearken\nto the calls of the Gospel. None that will come to Christ, let his\ncondition be what it will, need to fear but that Christ will provide a\nplace suitable for him in heaven.\n\nThis seems to be another thing implied in Christ's words. The disciples\nwere persons of very different condition from Christ: he was their Master,\nand they were his disciples; he was their Lord, and they were the\nservants; he was their Guide, and they were the followers; he was their\nCaptain, and they the soldiers; he was the Shepherd, and they the sheep;\n[he was, as it were, the] Father, [and they the] children; he was the\nglorious, holy Son of God, they were poor, sinful, corrupt men. But yet,\nthough they were in such different circumstances from him, yet Christ\nencourages them that there shall not only be room in heaven for him, but\nfor them too; for there were many mansions there. There was not only a\nmansion to accommodate the Lord, but the disciples also; not only the\nhead, but the members; not only the Son of God, but those that are\nnaturally poor, sinful, corrupt men: as in a king's palace there is not\nonly a mansion or room of state built for the king himself and for his\neldest son and heir, but there are many rooms, mansions for all his\nnumerous household, children, attendants and servants.\n\n3. It is further implied that heaven is a house that was actually built\nand prepared for a great multitude. When God made heaven in the beginning\nof the world, he intended it for an everlasting dwelling-place for a vast\nand innumerable multitude. When heaven was made, it was intended and\nprepared for all those particular persons that God had from eternity\ndesigned to save: Matt. xxv. 34, \"Come, ye blessed [of my Father, inherit\nthe Kingdom] prepared for you [from the foundation of the world].\" And\nthat is a very great and innumerable multitude: Rev. vii. 9, \"After this I\nbeheld, and, lo, a great multitude which no man could number, of all\nnations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, stood before the throne\nand before the Lamb, clothed with white robes.\" Heaven being built\ndesignedly for these was built accordingly; it was built so as most\nconveniently to accommodate all this multitude: as a house that is built\nfor a great family is built large and with many rooms in it; as a palace\nthat is built for a great king that keeps a great court with many\nattendants is built exceeding great with a great many apartments; and as\nan house of public worship that is built for a great congregation is built\nvery large with many seats in it.\n\n4. When it is said, [\"In my father's house are many mansions\"], it is\nmeant that there are seats of various dignity and different degrees and\ncircumstances of honor and happiness. There are many mansions in God's\nhouse because heaven is intended for various degrees of honor and\nblessedness. Some are designed to sit in higher places there than others;\nsome are designed to be advanced to higher degrees of honor and glory than\nothers are; and, therefore, there are various mansions, and some more\nhonorable mansions and seats, in heaven than others. Though they are all\nseats of exceeding honor and blessedness, yet some are more so than\nothers.\n\nThus a palace is built. Though every part of the palace is magnificent as\nbecomes the palace of a king, yet there are many apartments of various\nhonor, and some are more stately and costly than others, according to the\ndegree of dignity. There is one apartment that is the king's\npresence-chamber; there are other apartments for the next heir to the\ncrown; there are others for other children; and others for their\nattendants and the great officers of the household: one for the high\nsteward, and another for the chamberlain, and others for meaner officers\nand servants.\n\nAnother image of this was in Solomon's temple. There were many mansions of\ndifferent degrees of honor and dignity. There was the holy of holies,\nwhere the ark was that was the place of God's immediate residence, where\nthe high priest alone might come; and there was another apartment called\nthe holy place, where the other priests might come; and next to that was\nthe inner court of the temple, where the Levites were admitted: and there\nthey had many chambers or mansions built for lodging-rooms for the\npriests; and next to that was the court of Israel where the people of\nIsrael might come; and next to that was the court of the Gentiles where\nthe Gentiles, those that were called the \"Proselytes of the Gate,\" might\ncome.\n\nAnd we have an image of this in houses built for the worship of Christian\nassemblies. In such houses of God there are many seats of different honor\nand dignity, from the most honorable to the most inferior of the\ncongregation.\n\nNot that we are to understand the words of Christ so much in a literal\nsense, as that every saint in heaven was to have a certain seat or room or\nplace of abode where he was to be locally fixed. 'Tis not the design of\nthe Scriptures to inform us much about the external circumstances of\nheaven or the state of heaven locally considered; but we are to understand\nwhat Christ says chiefly in a spiritual sense. Persons shall be set in\ndifferent degrees of honor and glory in heaven, as is abundantly\nmanifested in Scripture: which may fitly be represented to our\nimaginations by there being different seats of various honor, as it was in\nthe temple, as it is in kings' courts. Some seats shall be nearer the\nthrone than others. Some shall sit next to Christ in glory: Matt. xx. 23,\n\"To sit on my right hand and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall\nbe given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.\"\n\nChrist has doubtless respect to these different degrees of glory in the\ntext. When he was going to heaven and the disciples were sorrowful at the\nthoughts of parting with their Lord, he lets them know that there are\nseats or mansions of various degrees of honor in his Father's house, that\nthere was not only one for him, who was the Head of the Church and the\nelder brother, but also for them that were his disciples and younger\nbrethren.\n\nChrist also may probably have respect not only to different degrees of\nglory in heaven, but different circumstances. Though the employment and\nhappiness of all the heavenly assembly shall in the general be the same,\nyet 'tis not improbable that there may be circumstantial difference. We\nknow what their employment [is] in general, but not in particular. We know\nnot how one may be employed to subserve and promote the happiness of\nanother, and all to help one another. Some may there be set in one place\nfor one office or employment, and others [in] another, as 'tis in the\nChurch on earth. God hath set every one in the body as it hath pleased\nhim; one is the eye, another the ear, another the head, etc. But because\nGod has not been pleased expressly to reveal how it shall be in this\nrespect, therefore I shall not insist upon it, but pass to make some\n\n\nIMPROVEMENT\n\nof what has been offered.\n\nI. Here is encouragement for sinners that are concerned and exercised for\nthe salvation of their souls, such as are afraid that they shall never go\nto heaven or be admitted to any place of abode there, and are sensible\nthat they are hitherto in a doleful state and condition in that they are\nout of Christ, and so have no right to any inheritance in heaven, but are\nin danger of going to hell and having their place of eternal abode fixed\nthere. You may be encouraged by what has been said, earnestly to seek\nheaven; for there are many mansions there. There is room enough there. Let\nyour case be what it will, there is suitable provision there for you; and\nif you come to Christ, you need not fear but that he will prepare a place\nfor you; he'll see to it that you shall be well accommodated in heaven.\n\nBut II. I would improve this doctrine in a twofold exhortation.\n\n1. Let all be hence exhorted earnestly to seek that they may be admitted\nto a mansion in heaven. You have heard that this is God's house; it is his\ntemple. If David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah and in the land\nof Geshur and of the Philistines, so longed that he might again return\ninto the land of Israel that he might have a place in the house of God\nhere on earth, and prized a place there so much, though it was but that of\na door-keeper, how great a happiness will it be to have a place in this\nheavenly temple of God! If they are looked upon as enjoying a high\nprivilege that have a seat appointed them in kings' courts or in\napartments in kings' palaces, especially those that have an abode there in\nthe quality of the king's children, then how great a privilege will it be\nto have an apartment or mansion assigned to us in God's heavenly palace,\nand to have a place there as his children! How great is their glory and\nhonor that are admitted to be of the household of God!\n\nAnd seeing there are many mansions there, mansions enough for us all, our\nfolly will be the greater if we neglect to seek a place in heaven, having\nour minds foolishly taken up about the worthless, fading things of this\nworld. Here consider three things:\n\n(1) How little a while you can have any mansion or place of abode in this\nworld. Now you have a dwelling amongst the living. You have a house or\nmansion of your own, or at least one that is at present for your use, and\nnow you have a seat in the house of God; but how little a while will this\ncontinue! In a very little while, and the place that now knows you in this\nworld will know you no more. The habitation you have here will be empty of\nyou; you will be carried dead out of it, or shall die at a distance from\nit, and never enter into it any more, or into any other abode in this\nworld. Your mansion or place of abode in this world, however convenient or\ncommodious it may be, is but as a tent that shall soon be taken down, but\na lodge in a garden of cucumbers. Your stay is as it were but for a\nnight. Your body itself is but a house of clay which will quickly moulder\nand tumble down, and you shall have no other habitation here in this world\nbut the grave.\n\nThus God in his providence is putting you in mind by the repeated\ninstances of death that have been in the town within the two weeks past,\nboth in one house: in which death he has shown his dominion over old and\nyoung. The son was taken away first before the father, being in his full\nstrength and flower of his days; and the father, who was then well and\nhaving no appearance of approaching death, followed in a few days: and\ntheir habitation and their seat in the house of God in this world will\nknow them no more.\n\nTake warning by these warnings of Providence to improve your time that you\nmay have a mansion in heaven. We have a house of worship newly created\namongst us which now you have a seat in, and probably are pleased with the\nornaments of it; and though you have a place in so comely a house, yet you\nknow not how little a while you shall have a place in this house of God.\nHere are a couple snatched away by death that had met in it but a few\ntimes, that have been snatched out of it before it was fully finished and\nnever will have any more a seat in it. You know not how soon you may\nfollow, and then of great importance will it be to you to have a seat in\nGod's house above. Both of the persons lately deceased were much on their\ndeath-beds warning others to improve their precious time. The first of\nthem was much in expressing his sense of the vast importance of an\ninterest in Christ, as I was a witness, and was earnest in calling on\nothers to improve their time, to be thorough, to get an interest in\nChrist, and seemed very desirous that young people might receive council\nand warning from him, as the words of a dying man, to do their utmost to\nmake sure of conversion; and a little before he died left a request to me\nthat I would warn the young people in his room. God has been warning of\nyou in his death and the death of his father that so soon followed. The\nwords of dying persons should be of special weight with us, for then they\nare in circumstances wherein they are most capable to look on things as\nthey are and judge aright of 'em,--between both worlds as it were. Still\nthat we must all be in.\n\nLet our young people, therefore, take warning from hence, and don't be\nsuch fools as to neglect seeking a place and mansion in heaven. Young\npersons are especially apt to be taken with the pleasing things of this\nworld. You are now, it may be, much pleased with hopes of your future\ncircumstances in this world; [and you are now, it may be, much] pleased\nwith the ornaments of that house of worship that you with others have a\nplace in. But, alas, do you not too little consider how soon you may be\ntaken away from all these things, and no more forever have any part in any\nmansion or house or enjoyment or happiness under the sun? Therefore let it\nbe your main care to secure an everlasting habitation for hereafter.\n\n(2) Consider when you die, if you have no mansion in the house of God in\nheaven, you must have your place of abode in the habitation of devils.\nThere is no middle place between them, and when you go hence, you must go\nto one or the other of these. Some have a mansion prepared for them in\nheaven from the foundation [of the world]; others are sent away as cursed\ninto everlasting burnings prepared for the [devil and his angels].\nConsider how miserable those must be that shall have their habitation with\ndevils to all eternity. Devils are foul spirits; God's great enemies.\nTheir habitation is the blackness of darkness; a place of the utmost\nfilthiness, abomination, darkness, disgrace and torment. O, how would you\nrather ten thousand times have no place of abode at all, have no being,\nthan to have a place [with devils]!\n\n(3) If you die unconverted, you will have the worse place in hell for\nhaving had a seat or place in God's house in this world. As there are\nmany mansions, places of different degrees of honor in heaven, so there\nare various abodes and places or degrees of torment and misery in hell;\nand those will have the worst place there that [dying unconverted, have\nhad the best place in God's house here]. Solomon speaks of a peculiarly\nawful sight that he had seen, that of a wicked man buried that had gone\n[from the place of the holy], Eccl. viii. 10. Such as have had a seat in\nGod's house, have been in a sense exalted up to heaven, set on the gate of\nheaven, [if they die unconverted, shall be] cast down to hell.\n\n2. The second exhortation that I would offer from what has been said is to\nseek a high place in heaven. Seeing there are many mansions of different\ndegrees of honor and dignity in heaven, let us seek to obtain a mansion of\ndistinguished glory. 'Tis revealed to us that there are different degrees\nof glory to that end that we might seek after the higher degrees. God\noffered high degrees of glory to that end, that we might seek them by\neminent holiness and good works: 2 Cor. ix. 6, \"He that sows sparingly\n[shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also\nbountifully].\" It is not becoming persons to be over anxious about an high\nseat in God's house in this world, for that is the honor that is of men;\nbut we can't too earnestly seek after an high seat in God's house above,\nby seeking eminent holiness, for that is the honor that is of God.\n\n'Tis very little worth the while for us to pursue after honor in this\nworld, where the greatest honor is but a bubble and will soon vanish away,\nand death will level all. Some have more stately houses than others, and\nsome are in higher office than others, and some are richer than others and\nhave higher seats in the meeting-house than others; but all graves are\nupon a level. One rotting, putrefying corpse is as ignoble as another; the\nworms are as bold with one carcass as another.\n\nBut the mansions in God's house above are everlasting mansions. Those that\nhave seats allotted 'em there, whether of greater or lesser dignity,\nwhether nearer or further from the throne, will hold 'em to all eternity.\nThis is promised, Rev. iii. 12: \"Him that overcometh I will make him a\npillar in the temple [of my God, and he shall go no more out].\" If it be\nworth the while to desire and seek high seats in the meeting-house, where\nyou are one day in a week, and where you shall never come but few days in\nall; if it be worth the while much to prize one seat above another in the\nhouse of worship only because it is the pew or seat that is ranked first\nin number, and to be seen here for a few days, how will it be worth the\nwhile to seek an high mansion in God's temple and in that glorious place\nthat is the everlasting habitation of God and all his children! You that\nare pleased with your seats in this house because you are seated high or\nin a place that is looked upon honorable by those that sit round about,\nand because many can behold you, consider how short a time you will enjoy\nthis pleasure. And if there be any that are not suited in their seats\nbecause they are too low for them, let them consider that it is but a very\nlittle while before it will [be] all one to you whether you have sat high\nor low here. But it will be of infinite and everlasting concern to you\nwhere your seat is in another world. Let your great concern be while in\nthis world so to improve your opportunities in God's house in this world,\nwhether you sit high or low, as that you may have a distinguished and\nglorious mansion in God's house in heaven, where you may be fixed in your\nplace in that glorious assembly in an everlasting rest.\n\nLet the main thing that we prize in God's house be, not the outward\nornaments of it, or a high seat in it, but the word of God and his\nordinances in it. And spend your time here in seeking Christ, that he may\nprepare a place for you in his Father's house, that when he comes again to\nthis world, he may take you to himself, that where he is, there you may be\nalso.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nSINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD deg.\n\nDEUTERONOMY xxxii. 35.--Their foot shall slide in due time.\n\n\nIn this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving\nIsraelites, that were God's visible people, and lived under means of\ngrace; and that notwithstanding all God's wonderful works that he had\nwrought towards that people, yet remained, as is expressed verse 28, void\nof counsel, having no understanding in them; and that, under all the\ncultivations of heaven, brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit; as in\nthe two verses next preceding the text.\n\nThe expression that I have chosen for my text, _their foot shall slide in\ndue time_, seems to imply the following things relating to the punishment\nand destruction that these wicked Israelites were exposed to.\n\n1. That they were _always_ exposed to destruction; as one that stands or\nwalks in slippery places is always exposed to fall. This is implied in the\nmanner of their destruction's coming upon them, being represented by their\nfoot's sliding. The same is expressed, Psalm lxxiii. 18: \"Surely thou\ndidst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into\ndestruction.\"\n\n2. It implies that they were always exposed to _sudden_, unexpected\ndestruction; as he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to\nfall, he can't foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next;\nand when he does fall, he falls at once, without warning, which is also\nexpressed in that Psalm lxxiii. 18, 19: \"Surely thou didst set them in\nslippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they\nbrought into desolation, as _in a moment_!\"\n\n3. Another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of _themselves_,\nwithout being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or\nwalks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him\ndown.\n\n4. That the reason why they are not fallen already, and don't fall now, is\nonly that God's appointed time is not come. For it is said that when that\ndue time, or appointed time comes, _their foot shall slide_. Then they\nshall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God won't\nhold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go;\nand then, at that very instant, they shall fall to destruction; as he that\nstands in such slippery declining ground on the edge of a pit that he\ncan't stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost.\n\nThe observation from the words that I would now insist upon is this,\n\n     _There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of\n     hell, but the mere pleasure of God._\n\nBy the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary\nwill, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty,\nany more than if nothing else but God's mere will had in the least degree\nor in any respect whatsoever any hand in the preservation of wicked men\none moment.\n\nThe truth of this observation may appear by the following considerations.\n\n1. There is no want of _power_ in God to cast wicked men into hell at any\nmoment. Men's hands can't be strong when God rises up: the strongest have\nno power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands.\n\nHe is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily\ndo it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty\nto subdue a rebel that has found means to fortify himself, and has made\nhimself strong by the number of his followers. But it is not so with God.\nThere is no fortress that is any defence against the power of God. Though\nhand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God's enemies combine and\nassociate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces: they are as great\nheaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry\nstubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a\nworm that we see crawling on the earth; so 'tis easy for us to cut or\nsinge a slender thread that any thing hangs by; thus easy is it for God,\nwhen he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we\nshould think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and\nbefore whom the rocks are thrown down!\n\n2. They _deserve_ to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never\nstands in the way, it makes no objection against God's using his power at\nany moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for\nan infinite punishment of their sins. Divine justice says of the tree that\nbrings forth such grapes of Sodom, \"Cut it down, why cumbereth it the\nground?\" Luke xiii. 7. The sword of divine justice is every moment\nbrandished over their heads, and 'tis nothing but the hand of arbitrary\nmercy, and God's mere will, that holds it back.\n\n3. They are _already_ under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They don't\nonly justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law\nof God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has\nfixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands\nagainst them; so that they are bound over already to hell: John iii. 18,\n\"He that believeth not is condemned already.\" So that every unconverted\nman properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is: John\nviii. 23, \"Ye are from beneath:\" and thither he is bound; 'tis the place\nthat justice, and God's word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law,\nassigns to him.\n\nThey are now the objects of that very _same_ anger and wrath of God, that\nis expressed in the torments of hell: and the reason why they don't go\ndown to hell at each moment is not because God, in whose power they are,\nis not then very angry with them; as angry as he is with many of those\nmiserable creatures that he is now tormenting in hell, and do there feel\nand bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea, God is a great deal more angry\nwith great numbers that are now on earth, yea, doubtless, with many that\nare now in this congregation, that, it may be, are at ease and quiet, than\nhe is with many of those that are now in the flames of hell.\n\nSo that it is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, and don't\nresent it, that he don't let loose his hand and cut them off. God is not\naltogether such a one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so.\nThe wrath of God burns against them; their damnation don't slumber; the\npit is prepared; the fire is made ready; the furnace is now hot, ready to\nreceive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is\nwhet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened her mouth under them.\n\n5. The _devil_ stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own,\nat what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their\nsouls in his possession, and under his dominion. The Scripture represents\nthem as his _goods_, Luke xi. 21. The devils watch them; they are ever by\nthem, at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry\nlions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present\nkept back; if God should withdraw his hand by which they are restrained,\nthey would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is\ngaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God\nshould permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost.\n\n6. There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish _principles_\nreigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell-fire, if it\nwere not for God's restraints. There is laid in the very nature of carnal\nmen a foundation for the torments of hell: there are those corrupt\nprinciples, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them,\nthat are seeds of hell-fire. These principles are active and powerful,\nexceeding violent in their nature, and if it were not for the restraining\nhand of God upon them, they would soon break out, they would flame out\nafter the same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in the\nheart of damned souls, and would beget the same torments in 'em as they do\nin them. The souls of the wicked are in Scripture compared to the troubled\nsea, Isaiah lvii. 20. For the present God restrains their wickedness by\nhis mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying,\n\"Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further;\" but if God should withdraw\nthat restraining power, it would soon carry all afore it. Sin is the ruin\nand misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should\nleave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul\nperfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is a thing that is\nimmoderate and boundless in its fury; and while wicked men live here, it\nis like fire pent up by God's restraints, whenas if it were let loose, it\nwould set on fire the course of nature; and as the heart is now a sink of\nsin, so, if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul\ninto a fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone.\n\n7. It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no\n_visible means of death_ at hand. 'Tis no security to a natural man, that\nhe is now in health, and that he don't see which way he should now\nimmediately go out of the world by any accident, and that there is no\nvisible danger in any respect in his circumstances. The manifold and\ncontinual experience of the world in all ages shows that this is no\nevidence that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that the\nnext step won't be into another world. The unseen, unthought of ways and\nmeans of persons' going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and\ninconceivable. Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten\ncovering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that\nthey won't bear their weight, and these places are not seen. The arrows of\ndeath fly unseen at noonday; the sharpest sight can't discern them. God\nhas so many different, unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the\nworld and sending 'em to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear\nthat God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the\nordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man, at any\nmoment. All the means that there are of sinners' going out of the world\nare so in God's hands, and so absolutely subject to his power and\ndetermination, that it don't depend at all less on the mere will of God,\nwhether sinners shall at any moment go to hell, than if means were never\nmade use of, or at all concerned in the case.\n\n8. Natural men's _prudence_ and _care_ to preserve their own _lives_, or\nthe care of others to preserve them, don't secure 'em a moment. This,\ndivine providence and universal experience does also bear testimony to.\nThere is this clear evidence that men's own wisdom is no security to them\nfrom death; that if it were otherwise we should see some difference\nbetween the wise and politic men of the world and others, with regard to\ntheir liableness to early and unexpected death; but how is it in fact?\nEccles. ii. 16, \"How dieth the wise man? As the fool.\"\n\n9. All wicked men's _pains_ and _contrivance_ they use to escape _hell_,\nwhile they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, don't\nsecure 'em from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of\nhell flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for\nhis own security, he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is\nnow doing, or what he intends to do; every one lays out matters in his own\nmind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives\nwell for himself, and that his schemes won't fail. They hear indeed that\nthere are but few saved, and that the bigger part of men that have died\nheretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out\nmatters better for his own escape than others have done: he don't intend\nto come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends\nto take care that shall be effectual, and to order matters so for himself\nas not to fail.\n\nBut the foolish children of men do miserably delude themselves in their\nown schemes, and in their confidence in their own strength and wisdom;\nthey trust to nothing but a shadow. The bigger part of those that\nheretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are\nundoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as\nthose that are now alive; it was not because they did not lay out matters\nas well for themselves to secure their own escape. If it were so that we\ncould come to speak with them, and could inquire of them, one by one,\nwhether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell,\never to be subjects of that misery, we, doubtless, should hear one and\nanother reply, \"No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters\notherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself: I\nthought my scheme good: I intended to take effectual care; but it came\nupon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that\nmanner; it came as a thief: death outwitted me: God's wrath was too quick\nfor me. O my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing\nmyself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was\nsaying peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me.\"\n\n10. God has laid himself under _no obligation_, by any promise, to keep\nany natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises\neither of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal\ndeath, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that\nare given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. But\nsurely they have no interest in the promises of the covenant of grace that\nare not the children of the covenant, and that do not believe in any of\nthe promises of the covenant, and have no interest in the Mediator of the\ncovenant.\n\nSo that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to\nnatural men's earnest seeking and knocking, 'tis plain and manifest, that\nwhatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes,\ntill he believes in Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep\nhim a moment from eternal destruction.\n\nSo that thus it is, that natural men are held in the hand of God over the\npit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced\nto it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them\nas to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness\nof his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease\nor abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to\nhold 'em up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for\nthem, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on\nthem and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is\nstruggling to break out; and they have no interest in any Mediator, there\nare no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short they\nhave no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every\nmoment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance\nof an incensed God.\n\n\nAPPLICATION\n\nThe use may be of _awakening_ to unconverted persons in this congregation.\nThis that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of\nChrist. That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended\nabroad under you. _There_ is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of\nthe wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have\nnothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of. There is nothing\nbetween you and hell but the air; 'tis only the power and mere pleasure of\nGod that holds you up.\n\nYou probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell,\nbut don't see the hand of God in it, but look at other things, as the good\nstate of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the\nmeans you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are\nnothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep\nyou from falling than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended\nin it.\n\nYour wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards\nwith great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go,\nyou would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the\nbottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and\nprudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no\nmore influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell than a spider's web\nwould have to stop a falling rock. Were it not that so is the sovereign\npleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a\nburden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject\nto the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun don't willingly\nshine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth don't\nwillingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a\nstage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air don't willingly serve\nyou for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you\nspend your life in the service of God's enemies. God's creatures are good,\nand were made for men to serve God with, and don't willingly subserve to\nany other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly\ncontrary to their nature and end. And the world would spew you out, were\nit not for the sovereign hand of him who hath subjected it in hope. There\nare the black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads,\nfull of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the\nrestraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you. The\nsovereign pleasure of God, for the present, stays his rough wind;\notherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a\nwhirlwind, and you would be like the chaff of the summer threshing floor.\n\nThe wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present;\nthey increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is\ngiven; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is\nits course, when once it is let loose. 'Tis true, that judgment against\nyour evil work has not been executed hitherto; the floods of God's\nvengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the mean time is\nconstantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the\nwaters are continually rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there\nis nothing but the mere pleasure of God that holds the waters back, that\nare unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. If God should\nonly withdraw his hand from the floodgate, it would immediately fly open,\nand the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God would rush forth\nwith inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power;\nand if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten\nthousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil\nin hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it.\n\nThe bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string,\nand justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is\nnothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without\nany promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from\nbeing made drunk with your blood.\n\nThus are all you that never passed under a great change of heart by the\nmighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all that were never\nborn again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin to a\nstate of new and before altogether unexperienced light and life, (however\nyou may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious\naffections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and\nclosets, and in the house of God, and may be strict in it), you are thus\nin the hands of an angry God; 'tis nothing but his mere pleasure that\nkeeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction.\n\nHowever unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and\nby you will be fully convinced of it. Those that are gone from being in\nthe like circumstances with you see that it was so with them; for\ndestruction came suddenly upon most of them; when they expected nothing of\nit, and while they were saying, Peace and safety: now they see, that those\nthings that they depended on for peace and safety were nothing but thin\nair and empty shadows.\n\nThe God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or\nsome loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully\nprovoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as\nworthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes\nthan to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times so\nabominable in his eyes, as the most hateful and venomous serpent is in\nours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did\nhis prince: and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling\ninto the fire every moment. 'Tis ascribed to nothing else, that you did\nnot go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in\nthis world after you closed your eyes to sleep; and there is no other\nreason to be given why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in\nthe morning, but that God's hand has held you up. There is no other\nreason to be given why you han't gone to hell since you have sat here in\nthe house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of\nattending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be\ngiven as a reason why you don't this very moment drop down into hell. deg.\n\nO sinner! consider the fearful danger you are in. 'Tis a great furnace of\nwrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are\nheld over in the hand of that God whose wrath is provoked and incensed as\nmuch against you as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a\nslender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and\nready every moment to singe it and burn it asunder; and you have no\ninterest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself,\nnothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that\nyou ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you\none moment.\n\nAnd consider here more particularly several things concerning that wrath\nthat you are in such danger of.\n\n1. _Whose_ wrath it is. It is the wrath of the infinite God. If it were\nonly the wrath of man, though it were of the most potent prince, it would\nbe comparatively little to be regarded. The wrath of kings is very much\ndreaded, especially of absolute monarchs, that have the possessions and\nlives of their subjects wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their\nmere will. Prov. xx. 2, \"The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion:\nwhoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.\" The subject\nthat very much enrages an arbitrary prince is liable to suffer the most\nextreme torments that human art can invent, or human power can inflict.\nBut the greatest earthly potentates, in their greatest majesty and\nstrength, and when clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble,\ndespicable worms of the dust, in comparison of the great and almighty\nCreator and King of heaven and earth: it is but little that they can do\nwhen most enraged, and when they have exerted the utmost of their fury.\nAll the kings of the earth before God are as grasshoppers; they are\nnothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their hatred is to be\ndespised. The wrath of the great King of kings is as much more terrible\nthan theirs, as his majesty is greater. Luke xii. 4, 5, \"And I say unto\nyou my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that\nhave no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall\nfear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell;\nyea, I say unto you, Fear him.\"\n\n2. 'Tis the _fierceness_ of his wrath that you are exposed to. We often\nread of the _fury_ of God; as in Isaiah lix. 18: \"According to their\ndeeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries.\" So Isaiah lxvi.\n15, \"For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like\na whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of\nfire.\" And so in many other places. So we read of God's _fierceness_, Rev.\nxix. 15. There we read of \"the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of\nAlmighty God.\" The words are exceeding terrible: if it had only been said,\n\"the wrath of God,\" the words would have implied that which is infinitely\ndreadful: but 'tis not only said so, but \"the fierceness and wrath of\nGod.\" The fury of God! The fierceness of Jehovah! Oh, how dreadful must\nthat be! Who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them!\nBut it is not only said so, but \"the fierceness and wrath of Almighty\nGod.\" As though there would be a very great manifestation of his almighty\npower in what the fierceness of his wrath should inflict, as though\nomnipotence should be as it were enraged, and exerted, as men are wont to\nexert their strength in the fierceness of their wrath. Oh! then, what will\nbe the consequence! What will become of the poor worm that shall suffer\nit! Whose hands can be strong! And whose heart endure! To what a dreadful,\ninexpressible, inconceivable depth of misery must the poor creature be\nsunk who shall be the subject of this!\n\nConsider this, you that are here present, that yet remain in an\nunregenerate state. That God will execute the fierceness of his anger\nimplies that he will inflict wrath without any pity. When God beholds the\nineffable extremity of your case, and sees your torment so vastly\ndisproportioned to your strength, and sees how your poor soul is crushed,\nand sinks down, as it were, into an infinite gloom; he will have no\ncompassion upon you, he will not forbear the executions of his wrath, or\nin the least lighten his hand; there shall be no moderation or mercy, nor\nwill God then at all stay his rough wind; he will have no regard to your\nwelfare, nor be at all careful lest you should suffer too much in any\nother sense, than only that you should not suffer beyond what strict\njustice requires: nothing shall be withheld because it is so hard for you\nto bear. Ezek. viii. 18, \"Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye\nshall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine\nears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.\" Now God stands ready to\npity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now with some encouragement\nof obtaining mercy: but when once the day of mercy is past, your most\nlamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be\nwholly lost and thrown away of God, as to any regard to your welfare; God\nwill have no other use to put you to, but only to suffer misery; you shall\nbe continued in being to no other end; for you will be a vessel of wrath\nfitted to destruction; and there will be no other use of this vessel, but\nonly to be filled full of wrath: God will be so far from pitying you when\nyou cry to him, that 'tis said he will only \"laugh and mock,\" Prov. i. 25,\n26, &c.\n\nHow awful are those words, Isaiah lxiii. 3, which are the words of the\ngreat God: \"I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury;\nand their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all\nmy raiment.\" 'Tis perhaps impossible to conceive of words that carry in\nthem greater manifestations of these three things, viz., contempt and\nhatred and fierceness of indignation. If you cry to God to pity you, he\nwill be so far from pitying you in your doleful case, or showing you the\nleast regard or favor, that instead of that he'll only tread you under\nfoot: and though he will know that you can't bear the weight of\nomnipotence treading upon you, yet he won't regard that, but he will crush\nyou under his feet without mercy; he'll crush out your blood, and make it\nfly, and it shall be sprinkled on his garments, so as to stain all his\nraiment. He will not only hate you, but he will have you in the utmost\ncontempt; no place shall be thought fit for you but under his feet, to be\ntrodden down as the mire of the streets.\n\n3. The misery you are exposed to is that which God will inflict to that\nend, that he might _show_ what that _wrath_ of _Jehovah_ is. God hath had\nit on his heart to show to angels and men, both how excellent his love is,\nand also how terrible his wrath is. Sometimes earthly kings have a mind to\nshow how terrible their wrath is, by the extreme punishments they would\nexecute on those that provoke 'em. Nebuchadnezzar, that mighty and haughty\nmonarch of the Chaldean empire, was willing to show his wrath when enraged\nwith Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego; and accordingly gave order that the\nburning fiery furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was\nbefore; doubtless, it was raised to the utmost degree of fierceness that\nhuman art could raise it; but the great God is also willing to show his\nwrath, and magnify his awful Majesty and mighty power in the extreme\nsufferings of his enemies. Rom. ix. 22, \"What if God, willing to show his\nwrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the\nvessels of wrath fitted to destruction?\" And seeing this is his design,\nand what he has determined, to show how terrible the unmixed, unrestrained\nwrath, the fury and fierceness of Jehovah is, he will do it to effect.\nThere will be something accomplished and brought to pass that will be\ndreadful with a witness. When the great and angry God hath risen up and\nexecuted his awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is\nactually suffering the infinite weight and power of his indignation, then\nwill God call upon the whole universe to behold that awful majesty and\nmighty power that is to be seen in it. Isa. xxxiii. 12, 13, 14, \"And the\npeople shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be\nburnt in the fire. Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and ye\nthat are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid;\nfearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites,\" &c.\n\nThus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue\nin it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness, of the\nOmnipotent God shall be magnified upon you in the ineffable strength of\nyour torments. You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels,\nand in the presence of the Lamb; and when you shall be in this state of\nsuffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go forth and look on\nthe awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of\nthe Almighty is; and when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore\nthat great power and majesty. Isa. lxvi. 23, 24, \"And it shall come to\npass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another,\nshall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall\ngo forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed\nagainst me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be\nquenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.\"\n\n4. It is _everlasting_ wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this\nfierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to\nall eternity: there will be no end to this exquisite, horrible misery.\nWhen you look forward, you shall see a long forever, a boundless duration\nbefore you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and\nyou will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any\nmitigation, any rest at all; you will know certainly that you must wear\nout long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting\nwith this almighty, merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done,\nwhen so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will\nknow that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will\nindeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such\ncircumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it gives but a very\nfeeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable:\nfor \"who knows the power of God's anger?\"\n\nHow dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in danger of\nthis great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every\nsoul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and\nstrict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh, that you would\nconsider it, whether you be young or old! There is reason to think that\nthere are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse, that will\nactually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity. We know not\nwho they are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now have.\nIt may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without much\ndisturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they are not the\npersons, promising themselves that they shall escape. If we knew that\nthere was one person, and but one, in the whole congregation, that was to\nbe the subject of this misery, what an awful thing it would be to think\nof! If we knew who it was, what an awful sight would it be to see such a\nperson! How might all the rest of the congregation lift up a lamentable\nand bitter cry over him! But alas! instead of one, how many is it likely\nwill remember this discourse in hell! And it would be a wonder, if some\nthat are now present should not be in hell in a very short time, before\nthis year is out. And it would be no wonder if some persons that now sit\nhere in some seats of this meeting-house in health, and quiet and secure,\nshould be there before to-morrow morning. Those of you that finally\ncontinue in a natural condition, that shall keep out of hell longest, will\nbe there in a little time! Your damnation don't slumber; it will come\nswiftly and, in all probability, very suddenly upon many of you. You have\nreason to wonder that you are not already in hell. 'Tis doubtless the case\nof some that heretofore you have seen and known, that never deserved hell\nmore than you and that heretofore appeared as likely to have been now\nalive as you. Their case is past all hope; they are crying in extreme\nmisery and perfect despair. But here you are in the land of the living and\nin the house of God, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation. What\nwould not those poor, damned, hopeless souls give for one day's such\nopportunity as you now enjoy!\n\nAnd now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has\nflung the door of mercy wide open, and stands in the door calling and\ncrying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking\nto him and pressing into the Kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from\nthe east, west, north and south; many that were very likely in the same\nmiserable condition that you are in are in now a happy state, with their\nhearts filled with love to him that has loved them and washed them from\ntheir sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.\nHow awful is it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others\nfeasting, while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and\nsinging for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of\nheart and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest for one moment in\nsuch a condition? Are not your souls as precious as the souls of the\npeople at Suffield,[15] where they are flocking from day to day to Christ?\n\n\nAre there not many here that have lived long in the world that are not to\nthis day born again, and so are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and\nhave done nothing ever since they have lived but treasure up wrath against\nthe day of wrath? Oh, sirs, your case in an especial manner is extremely\ndangerous; your guilt and hardness of heart is extremely great. Don't you\nsee how generally persons of your years are passed over and left in the\npresent remarkable and wonderful dispensation of God's mercy? You had need\nto consider yourselves and wake thoroughly out of sleep; you cannot bear\nthe fierceness and the wrath of the infinite God.\n\nAnd you that are young men and young women, will you neglect this precious\nseason that you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are renouncing\nall youthful vanities and flocking to Christ? You especially have now an\nextraordinary opportunity; but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you\nas it is with those persons that spent away all the precious days of youth\nin sin and are now come to such a dreadful pass in blindness and hardness.\n\nAnd you children that are unconverted, don't you know that you are going\ndown to hell to bear the dreadful wrath of that God that is now angry with\nyou every day and every night? Will you be content to be the children of\nthe devil, when so many other children in the land are converted and are\nbecome the holy and happy children of the King of kings?\n\nAnd let every one that is yet out of Christ and hanging over the pit of\nhell, whether they be old men and women or middle-aged or young people or\nlittle children, now hearken to the loud calls of God's word and\nprovidence. This acceptable year of the Lord that is a day of such great\nfavor to some will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to\nothers. Men's hearts harden and their guilt increases apace at such a day\nas this, if they neglect their souls. And never was there so great danger\nof such persons being given up to hardness of heart and blindness of\nmind. God seems now to be hastily gathering in his elect in all parts of\nthe land; and probably the bigger part of adult persons that ever shall be\nsaved will be brought in now in a little time, and that it will be as it\nwas on that great outpouring of the Spirit upon the Jews in the Apostles'\ndays, the election will obtain and the rest will be blinded. If this\nshould be the case with you, you will eternally curse this day, and will\ncurse the day that ever you was born to see such a season of the pouring\nout of God's Spirit, and will wish that you had died and gone to hell\nbefore you had seen it. Now undoubtedly it is as it was in the days of\nJohn the Baptist, the axe is in an extraordinary manner laid at the root\nof the trees, that every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit may be\nhewn down and cast into the fire.\n\nTherefore let every one that is out of Christ now awake and fly from the\nwrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over\ngreat part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom. \"_Haste\nand escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain,\nlest ye be consumed._\"\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nGOD'S AWFUL JUDGMENT IN THE BREAKING AND WITHERING OF THE STRONG RODS OF A\nCOMMUNITY deg.\n\nEZEK. xix. 12.--Her strong rods were broken and withered.\n\n\nIn order to a right understanding and improving these words, these four\nthings must be observed and understood concerning them.\n\n1. _Who she is_ that is here represented as having had strong rods, viz.,\nthe Jewish community, [who] here, as often elsewhere, is called the\npeople's mother. She is here compared to a vine planted in a very fruitful\nsoil, verse 10. The Jewish church and state is often elsewhere compared to\na vine; as Psalm lxxx. 8, &c., Isai. v. 2, Jer. ii. 21, Ezek. xv., and\nchapter xvii. 6.\n\n2. What is meant by _her strong rods_, viz., her wise, able, and well\nqualified magistrates or rulers. That the rulers or magistrates are\nintended is manifest by verse 11: \"And she had strong rods for the\nsceptres of them that bare rule.\" And by rods that were strong, must be\nmeant such rulers as were well qualified for magistracy, such as had great\nabilities and other qualifications fitting them for the business of rule.\nThey were wont to choose a rod or staff of the strongest and hardest sort\nof wood that could be found, for the mace or sceptre of a prince; such a\none only being counted fit for such a use: and this generally was overlaid\nwith gold.\n\nIt is very remarkable that such a strong rod should grow out of a weak\nvine; but so it had been in Israel, through God's extraordinary blessing,\nin times past. Though the nation is spoken of here, and frequently\nelsewhere, as weak and helpless in itself and entirely dependent as a\nvine, that is the weakest of all trees, that can't support itself by its\nown strength, and never stands but as it leans on or hangs by something\nelse that is stronger than itself; yet God had caused many of her sons to\nbe strong rods, fit for sceptres; he had raised up in Israel many able and\nexcellent princes and magistrates in days past, that had done worthily in\ntheir day.\n\n\n[Illustration: THE MEETING-HOUSE AT NORTHAMPTON IN WHICH EDWARDS PREACHED.\nERECTED 1737.]\n\n\n3. It should be understood and observed what is meant by these strong rods\nbeing _broken and withered_, viz., these able and excellent rulers being\nremoved by death. Man's dying is often compared in Scripture to the\nwithering of the growth of the earth.\n\n4. It should be observed _after what manner_ the breaking and withering of\nthese strong rods is here spoken of, viz., as a great and awful calamity\nthat God had brought upon that people. 'Tis spoken of as one of the chief\neffects of God's fury and dreadful displeasure against them. \"But she was\nplucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind\ndried up her fruit; her strong rods were broken and withered, the fire\nhath consumed them.\" The great benefits she enjoyed while her strong rods\nremained are represented in the preceding verse: \"And she had strong rods\nfor the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among\nthe thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of\nher branches.\" And the terrible calamities that attended the breaking and\nwithering of her strong rods, are represented in the two verses next\nfollowing the text: \"And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry\nand thirsty ground. And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which\nhath devoured her fruit.\" And in the conclusion in the next words is very\nemphatically declared the worthiness of such a dispensation to be greatly\nlamented: \"So that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is\na lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.\"\n\nThat which I therefore observe from the words of the text to be the\nsubject of discourse at this time, is this:\n\n     _When God by death removes from a people those in place of public\n     authority and rule that have been as strong rods, 'tis an awful\n     judgment of God on that people, and worthy of great lamentation._\n\nIn discoursing on this proposition, I would,\n\nI. Show what kind of rulers may fitly be called strong rods.\n\nII. Show why the removal of such rulers from a people, by death, is to be\nlooked upon as an awful judgment of God on that people, and is greatly to\nbe lamented.\n\nI. I would observe what qualifications of those who are in public\nauthority and rule may properly give them the denomination of _strong\nrods_.\n\n1. One qualification of rulers whence they may properly be denominated\nstrong rods is _great ability for the management of public affairs_. When\nthey that stand in place of public authority are men of great natural\nabilities, when they are men of uncommon strength of reason and largeness\nof understanding; especially when they have remarkably a genius for\ngovernment, a peculiar turn of mind fitting them to gain an extraordinary\nunderstanding in things of that nature, giving ability, in an especial\nmanner, for insight into the mysteries of government, and discerning those\nthings wherein the public welfare or calamity consists and the proper\nmeans to avoid the one and promote the other; an extraordinary talent at\ndistinguishing what is right and just from that which is wrong and\nunequal, and to see through the false colors with which injustice is often\ndisguised, and unravel the false, subtle arguments and cunning sophistry\nthat is often made use of to defend iniquity; and when they have not only\ngreat natural abilities in these respects, but when their abilities and\ntalents have been improved by study, learning, observation and\nexperience; and when by these means they have obtained great actual\nknowledge; when they have acquired great skill in public affairs and\nthings requisite to be known in order to their wise, prudent, and\neffectual management; when they have obtained a great understanding of men\nand things, a great knowledge of human nature and of the way of\naccommodating themselves to it, so as most effectually to influence it to\nwise purposes; when they have obtained a very extensive knowledge of men\nwith whom they are concerned in the management of public affairs, either\nthose that have a joint concern in government or those that are to be\ngoverned; and when they have also obtained a very full and particular\nunderstanding of the state and circumstances of the country or people that\nthey have the care of, and know well their laws and constitution and what\ntheir circumstances require; and likewise have a great knowledge of the\npeople of neighbor nations, states, or provinces with whom they have\noccasion to be concerned in the management of public affairs committed to\nthem; these things all contribute to the rendering those that are in\nauthority fit to be denominated strong rods.\n\n2. When they have not only great understanding but _largeness of heart and\na greatness and nobleness of disposition_, this is another qualification\nthat belongs to the character of a strong rod.\n\nThose that are by divine Providence set in places of public authority and\nrule are called _gods_, and _sons of the Most High_, Psalm lxxxii. 6. And\ntherefore 'tis peculiarly unbecoming them to be of a mean spirit, a\ndisposition that will admit of their doing those things that are sordid\nand vile; as when they are persons of a narrow, private spirit, that may\nbe found in little tricks and intrigues to promote their private interest,\nwill shamefully defile their hands to gain a few pounds, are not ashamed\nto nip and bite others, grind the faces of the poor and screw upon their\nneighbors, and will take advantage of their authority or commission to\nline their own pockets with what is fraudulently taken or withheld from\nothers. When a man in authority is of such a mean spirit, it weakens his\nauthority and makes him justly contemptible in the eyes of men and is\nutterly inconsistent with his being a _strong rod_.\n\nBut on the contrary, it greatly establishes his authority, and causes\nothers to stand in awe of him, when they see him to be a man of greatness\nof mind, one that abhors those things that are mean and sordid, and not\ncapable of a compliance with them; one that is of a public spirit, and not\nof a private, narrow disposition; a man of honor, and not a man of mean\nartifice and clandestine management for filthy lucre, and one that abhors\ntrifling and impertinence, or to waste away his time, that should be spent\nin the service of God, his king, or his country, in vain amusements and\ndiversions and in the pursuit of the gratifications of sensual appetites;\nas God charges the rulers in Israel, that pretended to be their great and\nmighty men, with being mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle\nstrong drink. There don't seem to be any reference to their being men of\nstrong heads and able to bear a great deal of strong drink, as some have\nsupposed. There is a severe sarcasm in the words; for the prophet is\nspeaking of the great men, princes and judges in Israel (as appears by the\nverse next following), which should be mighty men, strong rods, men of\neminent qualifications, excelling in nobleness of spirit, of glorious\nstrength and fortitude of mind; but instead of that, they were mighty or\neminent for nothing but gluttony and drunkenness.\n\n3. When those that are in authority are endowed with much of _a spirit of\ngovernment_, this is another thing that entitles them to the denomination\nof strong rods. When they not only are men of great understanding and\nwisdom in affairs that appertain to government, but have also a peculiar\ntalent at using their knowledge and exerting themselves in this great and\nimportant business, according to their great understanding in it; when\nthey are men of eminent fortitude and are not afraid of the faces of men,\nare not afraid to do the part that properly belongs to them as rulers,\nthough they meet with great opposition, and the spirits of men are greatly\nirritated by it; when they have a spirit of resolution and activity, so as\nto keep the wheels of government in proper motion and to cause judgment\nand justice to run down as a mighty stream; when they have not only a\ngreat knowledge of government and the things that belong to it in the\ntheory, but it is, as it were, natural to them to apply the various powers\nand faculties with which God has endowed them, and the knowledge they have\nobtained by study and observation, to that business, so as to perform it\nmost advantageously and effectually.\n\n4. _Stability and firmness of integrity, fidelity and piety in the\nexercise of authority_ is another thing that greatly contributes to, and\nis very essential in, the character of a strong rod.\n\nWhen he that is in authority is not only a man of strong reason and great\ndiscerning to know what is just, but is a man of strict integrity and\nrighteousness, is firm and immovable in the execution of justice and\njudgment; and when he is not only a man of great ability to bear down vice\nand immorality, but has a disposition agreeable to such ability; is one\nthat has a strong aversion to wickedness and is disposed to use the power\nGod has put into his hands to suppress it; and is one that not only\nopposes vice by his authority, but by his example; when he is one of\ninflexible fidelity, will be faithful to God whose minister he is to his\npeople for good, is immovable in his regard to his supreme authority, his\ncommands and his glory, and will be faithful to his king and country; will\nnot be induced by the many temptations that attend the business of men in\npublic authority basely to betray his trust; will not consent to do what\nhe thinks not to be for the public good for his own gain or advancement,\nor any private interest; is one that is well principled, and is firm in\nacting agreeably to his principles, and will not be prevailed with to do\notherwise through fear or favor, to follow a multitude, or to maintain his\ninterest in any on whom he depends for the honor or profit of his place,\nwhether it be prince or people; and is also one of that strength of mind,\nwhereby he rules his own spirit,--these things do very eminently\ncontribute to a ruler's title to the denomination of a _strong rod_.\n\n5. And lastly, it also contributes to the strength of a man in authority\nby which he may be denominated a _strong rod_, when he is in _such\ncircumstances as give him advantage_ for the exercise of his strength for\nthe public good; as his being a person of honorable descent, of a\ndistinguished education, his being a man of estate, one that is advanced\nin years, one that has long been in authority, so that it is become, as it\nwere, natural for the people to pay him deference, to reverence him, to be\ninfluenced and governed by him and submit to his authority; his being\nextensively known and much honored and regarded abroad; his being one of a\ngood presence, majesty of countenance, decency of behavior, becoming one\nin authority; of forcible speech, &c. These things add to his strength and\nincrease his ability and advantage to serve his generation in the place of\na ruler, and therefore in some respect serve to render him one that is the\nmore fitly and eminently called a _strong rod_.\n\nI now proceed,\n\nII. To show that when such strong rods are broken and withered by death,\n'tis an awful judgment of God on the people that are deprived of them and\nworthy of great lamentation.\n\nAnd that on two accounts:\n\n1. By reason of the many _positive benefits_ and blessings to a people\nthat such rulers are the instruments of.\n\nAlmost all the prosperity of a public society and civil community does,\nunder God, depend on their rulers. They are like the main springs or\nwheels in a machine that keep every part in their due motion, and are in\nthe body politic, as the vitals in the body natural, and as the pillars\nand foundation in a building. Civil rulers are called \"the foundations of\nthe earth,\" Psalm lxxxii. 5, and xi. 3.\n\nThe prosperity of a people depends more on their rulers than is commonly\nimagined. As they have the public society under their care and power, so\nthey have advantage to promote the public interest every way; and if they\nare such rulers as have been spoken of, they are some of the greatest\nblessings to the public. Their influence has a tendency to promote their\nwealth and cause their temporal possessions and blessings to abound: and\nto promote virtue amongst them, and so to unite them one to another in\npeace and mutual benevolence, and make them happy in society, each one the\ninstrument of his neighbor's quietness, comfort and prosperity; and by\nthese means to advance their reputation and honor in the world; and which\nis much more, to promote their spiritual and eternal happiness. Therefore,\nthe wise man says, Eccles. x. 17, \"Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king\nis the son of nobles.\"\n\nWe have a remarkable instance and evidence of the happy and great\ninfluence of such a strong rod as has been described to promote the\nuniversal prosperity of a people in the history of the reign of Solomon,\nthough many of the people were uneasy under his government, and thought\nhim too rigorous in his administration (see 1 Kings xii. 4). \"Judah and\nIsrael dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from\nDan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon,\" 1 Kings iv. 25. \"And he\nmade silver to be among them as stones for abundance,\" chap x. 27. \"And\nJudah and Israel were many, eating and drinking and making merry,\" [chap.\niv. 20]. The queen of Sheba admired and was greatly affected with the\nhappiness of the people under the government of such a strong rod: 1 Kings\nx. 8, 9, says she, \"Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants which\nstand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the\nLord thy God which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel;\nbecause the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore made he thee king, to do\njudgment and justice.\"\n\nThe flourishing state of the kingdom of Judah, while they had strong rods\nfor the sceptres of them that bare rule, is taken notice of in our\ncontext: \"Her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she\nappeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.\"\n\nSuch rulers are eminently the ministers of God to his people for good:\nthey are great gifts of the Most High to a people and blessed tokens of\nhis favor and vehicles of his goodness to them, and therein images of his\nown Son, the grand medium of all God's goodness to fallen mankind: and\ntherefore, all of them are called _sons of the Most High_. All civil\nrulers, if they are, as they ought to be, such strong rods as have been\ndescribed, will be like the Son of the Most High, vehicles of good to\nmankind, and like him, will be as the light of the morning when the sun\nriseth, even a morning without clouds, as the tender grass springeth out\nof the earth, by clear shining after rain. And therefore, when a people\nare bereaved of them, they sustain an unspeakable loss and are the\nsubjects of a judgment of God that is greatly to be lamented.\n\n2. On account of the _great calamities_ such rulers are _a defence from_.\nInnumerable are the grievous and fatal calamities which public societies\nare exposed to in this evil world, which they can have no defence from\nwithout order and authority. If a people are without government, they are\nlike a city broken down and without walls, encompassed on every side by\nenemies and become unavoidably subject to all manner of confusion and\nmisery.\n\nGovernment is necessary to _defend communities from miseries from within\nthemselves_; from the prevalence of intestine discord, mutual injustice\nand violence; the members of the society continually making a prey one of\nanother, without any defence one from another. Rulers are the heads of\nunion in public societies, that hold the parts together; without which\nnothing else is to be expected than that the members of the society will\nbe continually divided against themselves, every one acting the part of an\nenemy to his neighbor, every one's hand against every man and every man's\nhand against him; going on in remediless and endless broils and jarring\ntill the society be utterly dissolved and broken in pieces and life\nitself, in the neighborhood of our fellow creatures, becomes miserable and\nintolerable.\n\nWe may see the need of government in societies by what is visible in\nfamilies, those lesser societies of which all public societies are\nconstituted. How miserable would these little societies be, if all were\nleft to themselves, without any authority or superiority in one above\nanother or any head of union and influence among them? We may be convinced\nby what we see of the lamentable consequences of the want of a proper\nexercise of authority and maintenance of government in families that yet\nare not absolutely without all authority. No less need is there of\ngovernment in public societies, but much more, as they are larger. A very\nfew may possibly, without any government, act by concert, so as to concur\nin what shall be for the welfare of the whole; but this is not to be\nexpected among a multitude, constituted of many thousands, of a great\nvariety of tempers, and different interests.\n\nAs government is absolutely necessary, so there is a necessity of _strong\nrods_ in order to it: the business being such as requires persons so\nqualified: no other being sufficient for, or well capable of the\ngovernment of, public societies: and therefore, those public societies are\nmiserable that have not such strong rods for sceptres to rule: Eccles. x.\n16, \"Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child.\"\n\nAs government, and strong rods for the exercise of it, are necessary to\npreserve public societies from dreadful and fatal calamities arising from\namong themselves; so no less requisite are they to _defend the community\nfrom foreign enemies_. As they are like the pillars of a building, so they\nare also like the walls and bulwarks of a city: they are under God the\nmain strength of a people in a time of war and the chief instruments of\ntheir preservation, safety and rest. This is signified in a very lively\nmanner in the words that are used by the Jewish community in her\nLamentations to express the expectations she had from her princes: Lam.\niv. 29, \"The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken\nin their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the\nheathen.\" In this respect also such strong rods are sons of the Most High\nand images or resemblances of the Son of God, viz., as they are their\nsaviours from their enemies; as the judges that God raised up of old in\nIsrael are called, Nehem. ix. 27: \"Therefore thou deliveredst them into\nthe hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their\ntrouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and\naccording to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved\nthem out of the hand of their enemies.\"\n\nThus both the prosperity and safety of a people under God, depends on such\nrulers as are _strong rods_. While they enjoy such blessings, they are\nwont to be like a vine planted in a fruitful soil, with her stature\nexalted among the thick branches, appearing in her height with the\nmultitude of her branches; but when they have no strong rod to be a\nsceptre to rule, they are like a vine planted in a wilderness that is\nexposed to be plucked up and cast down to the ground, to have her fruit\ndried up with the east wind, and to have fire coming out of her own\nbranches to devour her fruit.\n\nOn these accounts, when a people's strong rods are broken and withered,\n'tis an awful judgment of God on that people, and worthy of great\nlamentation: as when King Josiah (who was doubtless one of the strong rods\nreferred to in the text) was dead, the people made great lamentation for\nhim, 2 Chron. xxxv. 24, 25: \"And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he\ndied, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all\nJudah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah:\nand all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their\nlamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and,\nbehold, they are written in the Lamentations.\"\n\n\nAPPLICATION\n\nI come now to apply these things to our own case, under the late awful\nfrown of divine Providence upon us in removing by death that honorable\nperson in public rule and authority, an inhabitant of this town and\nbelonging to this congregation and church, who died at Boston the last\nLord's day.\n\nHe was eminently a _strong rod_ in the forementioned respects. As to his\nnatural abilities, strength of reason, greatness and clearness of\ndiscerning and depth of penetration, he was one of the first rank: it may\nbe doubted whether he has left his superior in these respects in these\nparts of the world. He was a man of a truly great genius, and his genius\nwas peculiarly fitted for the understanding and managing of public\naffairs.\n\nAnd as his natural capacity was great, so was the knowledge that he had\nacquired, his understanding being greatly improved by close application of\nmind to those things he was called to be concerned in, and by a very exact\nobservation of them and long experience in them. He had indeed a great\ninsight into the nature of public societies, the mysteries of government\nand the affairs of peace and war: he had a discerning that very few have\nof the things wherein the public weal consists, and what those things are\nthat do expose public societies, and of the proper means to avoid the\nlatter and promote the former. He was quick in his discerning, in that in\nmost cases, especially such as belonged to his proper business, he at\nfirst sight would see further than most men when they had done their best;\nbut yet he had a wonderful faculty of improving his own thoughts by\nmeditation, and carrying his views a greater and greater length by long\nand close application of mind. He had an extraordinary ability to\ndistinguish right and wrong in the midst of intricacies and circumstances\nthat tended to perplex and darken the case: he was able to weigh things,\nas it were, in a balance, and to distinguish those things that were solid\nand weighty from those that had only a fair show without substance, which\nhe evidently discovered in his accurate, clear and plain way of stating\nand committing causes to a jury, from the bench, as by others hath been\nobserved. He wonderfully distinguished truth from falsehood, and the most\nlabored cases seemed always to lie clear in his mind, his ideas properly\nranged--and he had a talent of communicating them to every one's\nunderstanding, beyond almost any one; and if any were misguided, it was\nnot because truth and falsehood, right and wrong, were not well\ndistinguished.\n\nHe was probably one of the ablest politicians that ever New England bred:\nhe had a very uncommon insight into human nature, and a marvellous ability\nto penetrate into the particular tempers and dispositions of such as he\nhad to deal with, and to discern the fittest way of treating them, so as\nmost effectually to influence them to any good and wise purpose.\n\nAnd never perhaps was there a person that had a more extensive and\nthorough knowledge of the state of this land and its public affairs, and\nof persons that were jointly concerned in them: he knew this people and\ntheir circumstances, and what their circumstances required: he discerned\nthe diseases of this body, and what were the proper remedies, as an able\nand masterly physician. He had a great acquaintance with the neighboring\ncolonies, and also the neighbor nations on this continent, with whom we\nare concerned in our public affairs: he had a far greater knowledge than\nany other person in the land of the several nations of Indians in these\nnorthern parts of America, their tempers, manners and the proper way of\ntreating them, and was more extensively known by them than any other\nperson in the country: and no other person in authority in this province\nhad such an acquaintance with the people and country of Canada, the land\nof our enemies, as he.\n\nHe was exceeding far from a disposition and forwardness to intermeddle\nwith other people's business; but as to what belonged to the offices he\nsustained and the important affairs that he had the care of, he had a\ngreat understanding of what belonged to them. I have often been surprised\nat the length of his reach, and what I have seen of his ability to foresee\nand determine the consequences of things, even at a great distance, and\nquite beyond the sight of other men. He was not wavering and unsteady in\nhis opinion: his manner was never to pass a judgment rashly, but was wont\nfirst thoroughly to deliberate and weigh an affair; and in this,\nnotwithstanding his great abilities, he was glad to improve [by] the help\nof conversation and discourse with others, and often spake of the great\nadvantage he found by it; but when, on mature consideration, he had\nsettled his judgment, he was not easily turned from it by false colors and\nplausible pretences and appearances.\n\nAnd besides his knowledge of things belonging to his particular calling as\na ruler, he had also a great degree of understanding in things belonging\nto his general calling as a Christian. He was no inconsiderable divine. He\nwas a wise casuist, as I know by the great help I have found from time to\ntime by his judgment and advice in cases of conscience wherein I have\nconsulted him: and indeed I scarce knew the divine that I ever found more\nable to help and enlighten the mind in such cases than he. And he had no\nsmall degree of knowledge in things pertaining to experimental religion;\nbut was wont to discourse on such subjects, not only with accurate\ndoctrinal distinctions, but as one intimately and feelingly acquainted\nwith these things.\n\nHe was not only great in speculative knowledge, but his knowledge was\npractical; such as tended to a wise conduct in the affairs, business and\nduties of life; so as properly to have the denomination of wisdom, and so\nas properly and eminently to invest him with the character of a wise man.\nAnd he was not only eminently wise and prudent in his own conduct, but was\none of the ablest and wisest counsellors of others in any difficult\naffair.\n\nThe greatness and honorableness of his disposition was answerable to the\nlargeness of his understanding. He was naturally of a great mind. In this\nrespect he was truly the _son of nobles_. He greatly abhorred things which\nwere mean and sordid, and seemed to be incapable of a compliance with\nthem. How far was he from trifling and impertinence in his conversation!\nHow far from a busy, meddling disposition! How far from any sly and\nclandestine management to fill his pockets with what was fraudulently\nwithheld or violently squeezed from the laborer, soldier or inferior\nofficer! How far from taking advantage from his commission or authority or\nany superior power he had in his hands, or the ignorance, dependence or\nnecessities of others, to add to his own gains with what property belonged\nto them, and with what they might justly expect as a proper reward for any\nof their services! How far was he from secretly taking bribes offered to\ninduce him to favor any man in his cause, or by his power or interest to\npromote his being advanced to any place of public trust, honor or profit!\nHow greatly did he abhor lying and prevaricating! And how immovably\nsteadfast was he to exact truth! His hatred of those things that were mean\nand sordid was so apparent and well known, that it was evident that men\ndreaded to appear in any thing of that nature in his presence.\n\nHe was a man remarkably of a public spirit, a true lover of his country\nand greatly abhorred the sacrificing the public welfare to private\ninterest.\n\nHe was very eminently endowed with a spirit of government. The God of\nnature seemed to have formed him for government, as though he had been\nmade on purpose, and cast into a mould by which he should be every way\nfitted for the business of a man in public authority. Such a behavior and\nconduct was natural to him as tended to maintain his authority and possess\nothers with awe and reverence, and to enforce and render effectual what he\nsaid and did in the exercise of his authority. He did not _bear the sword\nin vain_: he was truly a _terror to evil doers_. What I saw in him often\nput me in mind of that saying of the wise man, Prov. xx. 8, \"The king that\nsitteth on the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.\"\nHe was one that was not afraid of the faces of men; and every one knew\nthat it was in vain to attempt to deter him from doing what, on mature\nconsideration, he had determined he ought to do. Every thing in him was\ngreat and becoming a man in his public station. Perhaps never was there a\nman that appeared in New England to whom the denomination of a _great man_\ndid more properly belong.\n\nBut though he was one that was great among men, exalted above others in\nabilities and greatness of mind and in place of rule, and feared not the\nfaces of men, yet he feared God. He was strictly conscientious in his\nconduct, both in public and private. I never knew the man that seemed more\nsteadfastly and immovably to act by principle and according to rules and\nmaxims, established and settled in his mind by the dictates of his\njudgment and conscience. He was a man of strict justice and fidelity.\nFaithfulness was eminently his character. Some of his greatest opponents\nthat have been of the contrary party to him in public affairs, yet have\nopenly acknowledged this of him, that he was a faithful man. He was\nremarkably faithful in his public trusts: he would not basely betray his\ntrust, from fear or favor. It was in vain to expect it, however men might\noppose him or neglect him, and how great soever they were. Nor would he\nneglect the public interest, wherein committed to him, for the sake of his\nown ease, but diligently and laboriously watched and labored for it night\nand day. And he was faithful in private affairs as well as public: he was\na most faithful friend, faithful to any one that in any case asked his\ncounsel; and his fidelity might be depended on in whatever affair he\nundertook for any of his neighbors.\n\nHe was a noted instance of the virtue of temperance, unalterable in it, in\nall places, in all companies, and in the midst of all temptations.\n\nThough he was a man of a great spirit, yet he had a remarkable government\nof his spirit; and excelled in the government of his tongue. In the midst\nof all provocations he met with, among the multitudes he had to deal with,\nand the great multiplicity of perplexing affairs in which he was\nconcerned, and all the opposition and reproaches he was at any time the\nsubject of; yet what was there that ever proceeded out of his mouth that\nhis enemies could lay hold of? No profane language, no vain, rash,\nunseemly and unchristian speeches. If at any time he expressed himself\nwith great warmth and vigor, it seemed to be from principle and\ndetermination of his judgment, rather than from passion. When he expressed\nhimself strongly and with vehemence, those that were acquainted with him,\nand well observed him from time to time, might evidently see it was done\nin consequence of thought and judgment, weighing the circumstances and\nconsequences of things.\n\nThe calmness and steadiness of his behavior in private, particularly in\nhis family, appeared remarkable and exemplary to those who had most\nopportunity to observe it.\n\nHe was thoroughly established in those religious principles and doctrines\nof the first fathers of New England, usually called the _doctrines of\ngrace_, and had a great detestation of the opposite errors of the present\nfashionable divinity, as very contrary to the word of God and the\nexperience of every true Christian. And as he was a friend to truth, so he\nwas a friend to vital piety and the power of godliness, and ever\ncountenanced and favored it on all occasions.\n\nHe abhorred profaneness, and was a person of a serious and decent spirit,\nand ever treated sacred things with reverence. He was exemplary for his\ndecent attendance on the public worship of God. Who ever saw him\nirreverently and indecently lolling and laying down his head to sleep, or\ngazing and staring about the meeting-house in time of divine service? And\nas he was able (as was before observed) to discourse very understandingly\nof experimental religion, so to some persons with whom he was very\nintimate, he gave intimations sufficiently plain, while conversing of\nthese things, that they were matters of his own experience. And some\nserious persons in civil authority that have ordinarily differed from him\nin matters of government, yet, on some occasional close conversation with\nhim on things of religion, have manifested a high opinion of him as to\nreal experimental piety.\n\nAs he was known to be a serious person, and an enemy to a profane or vain\nconversation, so he was feared on that account by great and small. When he\nwas in the room, only his presence was sufficient to maintain decency;\nthough many were there that were accounted gentlemen and great men, who\notherwise were disposed to take a much greater freedom in their talk and\nbehavior than they dared to do in his presence.\n\nHe was not unmindful of death, nor insensible of his own frailty, nor did\ndeath come unexpected to him. For some years past he has spoken much to\nsome persons of dying and going into the eternal world, signifying that he\ndid not expect to continue long here.\n\nAdded to all these things that have been mentioned to render him eminently\na _strong rod_, he was attended with many circumstances which tended to\ngive him advantage for the exerting of his strength for the public good.\nHe was honorably descended, was a man of considerable substance, had been\nlong in authority, was extensively known and honored abroad, was high in\nthe esteem of the many tribes of Indians in the neighborhood of the\nBritish colonies, and so had great influence upon them above any other man\nin New England; God had endowed him with a comely presence and majesty of\ncountenance, becoming the great qualities of his mind and the place in\nwhich God had set him.\n\nIn the exercise of these qualities and endowments, under these advantages,\nhe has been, as it were, a father to this part of the land, on whom the\nwhole county had, under God, its dependence in all its public affairs, and\nespecially since the beginning of the present war. deg. How much the weight of\nall the warlike concerns of the county (which above any part of the land\nlies exposed to the enemy) has lain on his shoulders, and how he has been\nthe spring of all motion and the doer of every thing that has been done,\nand how wisely and faithfully he has conducted these affairs, I need not\ninform this congregation. You well know that he took care of the county as\na father of a family of children, not neglecting men's lives and making\nlight of their blood; but with great diligence, vigilance and prudence\napplying himself continually to the proper means of our safety and\nwelfare. And especially has this his native town, where he has dwelt from\nhis infancy, reaped the benefit of his happy influence: his wisdom has\nbeen, under God, very much our guide, and his authority our support and\nstrength, and he has been a great honor to Northampton and ornament to our\nchurch.\n\nHe continued in full capacity of usefulness while he lived; he was indeed\nconsiderably advanced in years, but his powers of mind were not sensibly\nabated, and his strength of body was not so impaired but that he was able\nto go long journeys, in extreme heat and cold, and in a short time.\n\nBut now this \"strong rod is broken and withered,\" and surely the judgment\nof God therein is very awful, and the dispensation that which may well be\nfor a lamentation. Probably we shall be more sensible of the worth and\nimportance of such a strong rod by the want of it. The awful voice of God\nin this providence is worthy to be attended to by this whole province, and\nespecially by the people of this county, but in a more peculiar manner by\nus of this town. We have now this testimony of the divine displeasure\nadded to all the other dark clouds God has lately brought over us, and his\nawful frowns upon us. 'Tis a dispensation, on many accounts, greatly\ncalling for our humiliation and fear before God; an awful manifestation of\nhis supreme, universal and absolute dominion, calling us to adore the\ndivine sovereignty and tremble at the presence of this great God. And it\nis a lively instance of human frailty and mortality. We see how that none\nare out of the reach of death, that no greatness, no authority, no wisdom\nand sagacity, no honorableness of person or station, no degree of\nvaluableness and importance exempts from the stroke of death. This is\ntherefore a loud and solemn warning to all sorts to prepare for their\ndeparture hence.\n\nAnd the memory of this person who is now gone, who was made so great a\nblessing while he lived, should engage us to show respect and kindness to\nhis family. This we should do both out of respect to him and to his\nfather, your former eminent pastor, who in his day was, in a remarkable\nmanner, a father to this part of the land in spirituals, and especially to\nthis town, as this his son has been in temporals.--God greatly resented\nit, when the children of Israel did not show kindness to the house of\nJerubbaal that had been made an instrument of so much good to them: Judges\nviii. 35, \"Neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerrubbaal,\naccording to all the good which he had showed unto Israel.\"\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nA FAREWELL SERMON deg.\n\n2 COR. i. 14.--As also you have acknowledged us in part, that we are your\nrejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.\n\n\nThe apostle, in the preceding part of the chapter, declares what great\ntroubles he met with in the course of his ministry. In the text and two\nforegoing verses, he declares what were his comforts and supports under\nthe troubles he met with. There are four things in particular.\n\n1. That he had approved himself to his own conscience, verse 12: \"For our\nown rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity\nand godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we\nhave had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.\"\n\n2. Another thing he speaks of as matter of comfort is, that as he had\napproved himself to his own conscience, so he had also to the consciences\nof his hearers, the Corinthians, whom he now wrote to, and that they\nshould approve of him at the day of judgment.\n\n3. The hope he had of seeing the blessed fruit of his labors and\nsufferings in the ministry, in their happiness and glory, in that great\nday of accounts.\n\n4. That, in his ministry among the Corinthians, he had approved himself to\nhis Judge, who would approve and reward his faithfulness in that day.\n\nThese three last particulars are signified in my text and the preceding\nverse; and, indeed, all the four are implied in the text. 'Tis implied\nthat the Corinthians had acknowledged him as their spiritual father and\nas one that had been faithful among them, and as the means of their future\njoy and glory at the day of judgment, and one whom they should then see,\nand have a joyful meeting with as such. 'Tis implied, that the apostle\nexpected at that time to have a joyful meeting with them before the Judge,\nand with joy to behold their glory, as the fruit of his labors; and so\nthey would be his rejoicing. 'Tis implied also that he then expected to be\napproved of the great Judge, when he and they should meet together before\nhim; and that he would then acknowledge his fidelity, and that this had\nbeen the means of their glory; and that thus he would, as it were, give\nthem to him as his crown of rejoicing. But this the apostle could not hope\nfor, unless he had the testimony of his own conscience in his favor. And\ntherefore the words do imply, in the strongest manner, that he had\napproved himself to his own conscience.\n\nThere is one thing implied in each of these particulars, and in every part\nof the text, which is that point I shall make the subject of my present\ndiscourse, viz.:\n\n\nDOCT[RINE]\n\n_Ministers, and the people that are under their care, must meet one\nanother before Christ's tribunal at the day of judgment._\n\nMinisters, and the people that have been under their care, must be parted\nin this world, how well soever they have been united: if they are not\nseparated before, they must be parted by death; and they may be separated\nwhile life is continued. We live in a world of change, where nothing is\ncertain or stable; and where a little time, a few revolutions of the sun\nbring to pass strange things, surprising alterations, in particular\npersons, in families, in towns and churches, in countries and nations. It\noften happens, that those who seem most united, in a little time are most\ndisunited, and at the greatest distance. Thus ministers and people,\nbetween whom there has been the greatest mutual regard and strictest\nunion, may not only differ in their judgments, and be alienated in\naffection, but one may rend from the other, and all relation between them\nbe dissolved; the minister may be removed to a distant place, and they may\nnever have any more to do with one another in this world. But if it be so,\nthere is one meeting more that they must have, and that is in the last\ngreat day of accounts.\n\nHere I would show,\n\nI. In what manner ministers, and the people who have been under their\ncare, shall meet one another at the day of judgment.\n\nII. For what purposes.\n\nIII. For what reasons God has so ordered it, that ministers and their\npeople shall then meet together in such a manner, and for such purposes.\n\nI. I would show, in some particulars, in what manner ministers, and the\npeople who have been under their care, shall meet one another at the day\nof judgment. Concerning this I would observe two things in general.\n\n1. That they shall not then meet only as all mankind must then meet, but\nthere will be something peculiar in the manner of their meeting.\n\n2. That their meeting together at that time shall be very different from\nwhat used to be in the house of God in this world.\n\n1. They shall not meet at that day as all the world must then meet\ntogether. I would observe a difference in two things.\n\n(1) As to a clear actual view, and distinct knowledge and notice of each\nother.\n\nAlthough the whole world will be then present, all mankind of all\ngenerations gathered in one vast assembly, with all of the angelic nature,\nboth elect and fallen angels; yet we need not suppose that every one will\nhave a distinct and particular knowledge of each individual of the whole\nassembled multitude, which will undoubtedly consist of many millions of\nmillions. Though 'tis probable that men's capacities will be much greater\nthan in the present state, yet they will not be infinite; though their\nunderstanding and comprehension will be vastly extended, yet men will not\nbe deified. There will probably be a very enlarged view that particular\npersons will have of various parts and members of that vast assembly, and\nso of the proceedings of that great day; but yet it must needs be, that\naccording to the nature of finite minds, some persons and some things at\nthat day shall fall more under the notice of particular persons than\nothers; and this (as we may well suppose) according as they shall have a\nnearer concern with some than others, in the transactions of the day.\nThere will be special reason why those who have had special concerns\ntogether in this world, in their state of probation, and whose mutual\naffairs will be then to be tried and judged, should especially be set in\none another's view. Thus we may suppose that rulers and subjects, earthly\njudges and those whom they have judged, neighbors who have had mutual\nconverse, dealings and contests, heads of families and their children and\nservants, shall then meet, and in a peculiar distinction be set together.\nAnd especially will it be thus with ministers and their people. 'Tis\nevident by the text that these shall be in each other's view, shall\ndistinctly know each other, and shall have particular notice one of\nanother at that time.\n\n(2) They shall meet together, as having a special concern one with another\nin the great transactions of that day.\n\nAlthough they shall meet the whole world at that time, yet they will not\nhave any immediate and particular concern with all. Yea, the far greater\npart of those who shall then be gathered together, will be such as they\nhave had no intercourse with in their state of probation, and so will have\nno mutual concerns to be judged of. But as to ministers, and the people\nthat have been under their care, they will be such as have had much\nimmediate concern one with another, in matters of the greatest moment,\nthat ever mankind have to do one with another in. Therefore they\nespecially must meet and be brought together before the judge, as having\nspecial concern one with another in the design and business of that great\nday of accounts.\n\nThus their meeting, as to the manner of it, will be diverse from the\nmeeting of mankind in general.\n\n2. Their meeting at the day of judgment will be very diverse from their\nmeetings one with another in this world.\n\nMinisters and their people, while their relation continues, often meet\ntogether in this world. They are wont to meet from Sabbath to Sabbath, and\nat other times, for the public worship of God, and administration of\nordinances, and the solemn services of God's house. And besides these\nmeetings, they have also occasions to meet for the determining and\nmanaging their ecclesiastical affairs, for the exercise of church\ndiscipline, and the settling and adjusting those things which concern the\npurity and good order of public administrations. But their meeting at the\nday of judgment will be exceeding diverse, in its manner and circumstance,\nfrom any such meetings and interviews as they have one with another in the\npresent state. I would observe how, in a few particulars.\n\n(1) Now they meet together in a preparatory mutable state, but then in an\nunchangeable state.\n\nNow sinners in the congregation meet their minister in a state wherein\nthey are capable of a saving change, capable of being turned, through\nGod's blessing on the ministrations and labors of their pastor, from the\npower of Satan unto God; and being brought out of a state of guilt,\ncondemnation and wrath, to a state of peace and favor with God, to the\nenjoyment of the privileges of his children, and a title to their eternal\ninheritance. And saints now meet their minister with great remains of\ncorruption, and sometimes under great spiritual difficulties and\naffliction: and therefore are yet the proper subjects of means of an happy\nalteration of their state, consisting in a greater freedom from these\nthings, which they have reason to hope for in the way of an attendance on\nordinances, and of which God is pleased commonly to make his ministers the\ninstruments. And ministers and their people now meet in order to the\nbringing to pass such happy changes; they are the great benefits sought in\ntheir solemn meetings in this world.\n\nBut when they shall meet together at the day of judgment, it will be far\notherwise. They will not then meet in order to the use of means for the\nbringing to effect any such changes; for they will all meet in an\nunchangeable state. Sinners will be in an unchangeable state: they who\nthen shall be under the guilt and power of sin, and have the wrath of God\nabiding on them, shall be beyond all remedy or possibility of change, and\nshall meet their ministers without any hopes of relief or remedy, or\ngetting any good by their means. And as for the saints, they will be\nalready perfectly delivered from all their before remaining corruption,\ntemptation, and calamities of every kind, and set forever out of their\nreach; and no deliverance, no happy alteration, will remain to be\naccomplished in the way of the use of means of grace, under the\nadministrations of ministers. It will then be pronounced, \"He that is\nunjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy\nstill; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that\nis holy, let him be holy still.\"\n\n(2) Then they shall meet together in a state of clear, certain and\ninfallible light.\n\nMinisters are set as guides and teachers, and are represented in Scripture\nas lights set up in the churches; and in the present state meet their\npeople from time to time in order to instruct and enlighten them, to\ncorrect their mistakes, and to be a voice behind them, when they turn\naside to the right hand or to the left, saying, \"This is the way, walk in\nit;\" to evince and confirm the truth by exhibiting the proper evidences of\nit, and to refute errors and corrupt opinions, to convince the erroneous\nand establish the doubting. But when Christ shall come to judgment, every\nerror and false opinion shall be detected; all deceit and illusion shall\nvanish away before the light of that day, as the darkness of the night\nvanishes at the appearance of the rising sun; and every doctrine of the\nword of God shall then appear in full evidence, and none shall remain\nunconvinced; all shall know the truth with the greatest certainty, and\nthere shall be no mistakes to rectify.\n\nNow ministers and their people may disagree in their judgments concerning\nsome matters of religion, and may sometimes meet to confer together\nconcerning those things wherein they differ, and to hear the reasons that\nmay be offered on one side and the other; and all may be ineffectual as to\nany conviction of the truth: they may meet and part again, no more agreed\nthan before; and that side which was in the wrong may remain so still;\nsometimes the meetings of ministers with their people in such a case of\ndisagreeing sentiments are attended with unhappy debate and controversy,\nmanaged with much prejudice and want of candor; not tending to light and\nconviction, but rather to confirm and increase darkness, and establish\nopposition to the truth and alienation of affection one from another. But\nwhen they shall hereafter meet together, at the day of judgment, before\nthe tribunal of the great Judge, the mind and will of Christ will be made\nknown; and there shall no longer be any debate or difference of opinions;\nthe evidence of the truth shall appear beyond all dispute, and all\ncontroversies shall be finally and forever decided.\n\nNow ministers meet their people in order to enlighten and awaken the\nconsciences of sinners: setting before them the great evil and danger of\nsin, the strictness of God's law, their own wickedness of heart and\npractice, the great guilt they are under, the wrath that abides upon them,\nand their impotence, blindness, poverty, and helpless and undone\ncondition: but all is often in vain; they remain still, notwithstanding\nall their ministers can say, stupid and unawakened, and their consciences\nunconvinced. But it will not be so at their last meeting at the day of\njudgment; sinners, when they shall meet their minister before their great\nJudge, will not meet him with a stupid conscience: they will then be fully\nconvinced of the truth of those things which they formerly heard from him,\nconcerning the greatness and terrible majesty of God, his holiness, and\nhatred of sin, and his awful justice in punishing it, the strictness of\nhis law, and the dreadfulness and truth of his threatenings, and their own\nunspeakable guilt and misery: and they shall never more be insensible of\nthese things: the eyes of conscience will now be fully enlightened, and\nnever shall be blinded again: the mouth of conscience shall now be opened,\nand never shall be shut any more.\n\nNow ministers meet with their people, in public and private, in order to\nenlighten them concerning the state of their souls; to open and apply the\nrules of God's word to them, in order to their searching their own hearts,\nand discerning the state that they are in. But now ministers have no\ninfallible discerning of the state of the souls of their own people; and\nthe most skilful of them are liable to mistakes, and often are mistaken in\nthings of this nature. Nor are the people able certainly to know the state\nof their minister, or one another's state; very often those pass among\nthem for saints, and it may be eminent saints, that are grand hypocrites;\nand on the other hand, those are sometimes censured, or hardly received\ninto their charity, that are indeed some of God's jewels. And nothing is\nmore common than for men to be mistaken concerning their own state: many\nthat are abominable to God, and the children of his wrath, think highly\nof themselves, as his precious saints and dear children. Yea, there is\nreason to think that often some that are most bold in their confidence of\ntheir safe and happy state, and think themselves not only true saints, but\nthe most eminent saints in the congregation, are in a peculiar manner a\nsmoke in God's nose. And thus it undoubtedly often is in those\ncongregations where the word of God is most faithfully dispensed,\nnotwithstanding all that ministers can say in their clearest explications\nand most searching applications of the doctrines and rules of God's word\nto the souls of their hearers, in their meetings one with another. But in\nthe day of judgment they shall have another sort of meeting; then the\nsecrets of every heart shall be made manifest, and every man's state shall\nbe perfectly known: 1 Cor. iv. 5, \"Therefore, judge nothing before the\ntime, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things\nof darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then\nshall every man have praise of God.\" Then none shall be deceived\nconcerning his own state, nor shall be any more in doubt about it. There\nshall be an eternal end to all the ill conceit and vain hopes of deluded\nhypocrites, and all the doubts and fears of sincere Christians. And then\nshall all know the state of one another's souls: the people shall know\nwhether their minister has been sincere and faithful, and the ministers\nshall know the state of every one of their people, and to whom the word\nand ordinances of God have been a savor of life unto life, and to whom a\nsavor of death unto death.\n\nNow in this present state it often happens that when ministers and people\nmeet together to debate and manage their ecclesiastical affairs,\nespecially in a state of controversy, they are ready to judge and censure\none another with regard to each other's views and designs, and the\nprinciples and ends that each is influenced by; and are greatly mistaken\nin their judgment, and wrong one another with regard to each other's views\nand designs and the principles and ends that each is influenced by, and\nare greatly mistaken in their judgment, and wrong one another in their\ncensures. But at that future meeting, things will be set in a true and\nperfect light, and the principles and aims that every one has acted from\nshall be certainly known; and there will be an end to all errors of this\nkind, and all unrighteous censures.\n\n(3) In this world, ministers and their people often meet together to hear\nof and wait upon an unseen Lord; but at the day of judgment they shall\nmeet in his most immediate and visible presence.\n\nMinisters, who now often meet their people to preach to 'em the King\neternal, immortal, and invisible, to convince 'em that there is a God, and\ndeclare to 'em what manner of being he is, and to convince 'em that he\ngoverns and will judge the world, and that there is a future state of\nrewards and punishments, and to preach to 'em a Christ in heaven and at\nthe right hand of God in an unseen world, shall then meet their people in\nthe most immediate sensible presence of this great God, Saviour and Judge,\nappearing in the most plain, visible and open manner, with great glory,\nwith all his holy angels, before them and the whole world. They shall not\nmeet them to hear about an absent Christ, an unseen Lord and future Judge;\nbut to appear before that Judge, and as being set together in the presence\nof that supreme Lord, in his immense glory and awful majesty, whom they\nhave heard so often of in their meetings together on earth.\n\n(4) The meeting, at the last day, of ministers, and the people that have\nbeen under their care, will not be attended by any one with a careless,\nheedless heart.\n\nWith such an heart are their meetings often attended in this world by many\npersons, having little regard to him whom they pretend unitedly to adore\nin the solemn duties of his public worship, taking little heed to their\nown thoughts or frame of their minds, not attending to the business they\nare engaged in, or considering the end for which they are come together.\nBut the meeting at that great day will be very different: there will not\nbe one careless heart, no sleeping, no wandering of mind from the great\nconcern of the meeting, no inattentiveness to the business of the day, no\nregardlessness of the presence they are in, or of those great things which\nthey shall hear from Christ at that meeting, or that they formerly heard\nfrom him and of him by their ministers, in their meeting in a state of\ntrial, or which they shall now hear their ministers declaring concerning\nthem before their judge.\n\nHaving observed these things concerning the manner and circumstances of\nthis future meeting of ministers and the people that have been under their\ncare, before the tribunal of Christ at the day of judgment, I now proceed,\n\nII. To observe to what purposes they shall then meet.\n\n1. To give an account, before the great Judge, of their behavior one to\nanother in the relation they stood in to each other in this world.\n\nMinisters are sent forth by Christ to their people on his business, are\nhis servants and messengers; and, when they have finished their service,\nthey must return to their master to give him an account of what they have\ndone, and of the entertainment they have had in performing their ministry.\nThus we find, in Luke xiv. 16-21, that when the servant who was sent forth\nto call the guests to the great supper had done his errand, and finished\nhis appointed service, he returned to his master, and gave him an account\nof what he had done, and of the entertainment he had received. And when\nthe master, being angry, sent his servant to others, he returns again, and\ngives his master an account of his conduct and success. So we read, in\nHeb. xiii. 17, of ministers being rulers in the house of God, \"that watch\nfor souls, as those that must give account.\" And we see by the\nforementioned Luke xiv., that ministers must give an account to their\nmaster, not only of their own behavior in the discharge of their office,\nbut also of their people's reception of them, and of the treatment they\nhave met with among them.\n\nAnd therefore, as they will be called to give an account of both, they\nshall give an account at the great day of accounts in the presence of\ntheir people; they and their people being both present before their Judge.\n\nFaithful ministers will then give an account with joy, concerning those\nwho have received them well and made a good improvement of their ministry;\nand these will be given 'em, at that day, as their crown of rejoicing.\nAnd, at the same time, they will give an account of the ill treatment of\nsuch as have not well received them and their messages from Christ: they\nwill meet these, not as they used to do in this world, to counsel and warn\nthem, but to bear witness against them, and as their judges and assessors\nwith Christ, to condemn them. And on the other hand, the people will, at\nthat day, rise up in judgment against wicked and unfaithful ministers who\nhave sought their own temporal interest more than the good of the souls of\ntheir flock.\n\n2. At that time ministers, and the people who have been under their care,\nshall meet together before Christ, that he may judge between them, as to\nany controversies which have subsisted between them in this world.\n\nSo it very often comes to pass in this evil world, that great differences\nand controversies arise between ministers and the people that are under\ntheir pastoral care. Though they are under the greatest obligations to\nlive in peace, above persons in almost any relation whatever; and although\ncontests and dissensions between persons so related are the most unhappy\nand terrible in their consequences, on many accounts, of any sort of\ncontentions; yet how frequent have such contentions been! Sometimes a\npeople contest with their ministers about their doctrine, sometimes about\ntheir administrations and conduct, and sometimes about their maintenance;\nand sometimes such contests continue a long time; and sometimes they are\ndecided in this world according to the prevailing interest of one party or\nthe other, rather than by the word of God and the reason of things; and\nsometimes such controversies never have any proper determination in this\nworld.\n\nBut at the day of judgment there will be a full, perfect and everlasting\ndecision of them. The infallible Judge, the infinite fountain of light,\ntruth and justice, will judge between the contending parties, and will\ndeclare what is the truth, who is in the right, and what is agreeable to\nhis mind and will. And in order hereto the parties must stand together\nbefore him at the last day; which will be the great day of finishing and\ndetermining all controversies, rectifying all mistakes and abolishing all\nunrighteous judgments, errors and confusions, which have before subsisted\nin the world of mankind.\n\n3. Ministers, and the people that have been under their care, must meet\ntogether at that time to receive an eternal sentence and retribution from\nthe judge, in the presence of each other, according to their behavior in\nthe relation they stood in one to another in the present state.\n\nThe Judge will not only declare justice, but he will do justice between\nministers and their people. He will declare what is right between them,\napproving him that has been just and faithful, and condemning the unjust;\nand perfect truth and equity shall take place in the sentence which he\npasses, in the rewards he bestows and the punishments which he inflicts.\nThere shall be a glorious reward to faithful ministers: to those who have\nbeen successful: Dan. xii. 3, \"And they that be wise shall shine as the\nbrightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as\nthe stars forever and ever;\" and also to those who have been faithful, and\nyet not successful: Isa. xlix. 4, \"Then I said, I have labored in vain, I\nhave spent my strength for nought: yet surely my judgment is with the\nLord, and my reward with my God.\" And those who have well received and\nentertained them shall be gloriously rewarded: Matt. x. 40, 41, \"He that\nreceiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that\nsent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall\nreceive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the\nname of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.\" Such\npeople, and their faithful ministers, shall be each other's crown of\nrejoicing: 1 Thess. ii. 19, 20, \"For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of\nrejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his\ncoming? For ye are our glory and joy.\" And in the text, _We are your\nrejoicing, as ye also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus_. But they\nthat evil entreat Christ's faithful ministers, especially in that wherein\nthey are faithful, shall be severely punished: Matt. x. 14, 15, \"And\nwhosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out\nof that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto\nyou, It shall be more tolerable for the sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah in\nthe day of judgment, than for that city.\" Deut. xxxiii. 8-11, \"And of Levi\nhe said, Let thy Urim and thy Thummim be with thy holy one.... They shall\nteach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law.... Bless, Lord, his\nsubstance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of\nthem that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not\nagain.\" On the other hand, those ministers who are found to have been\nunfaithful shall have a most terrible punishment. See Ezek. xxxiii. 6;\nMatt. xxiii. 1-33.\n\nThus justice shall be administered at the great day to ministers and their\npeople. And to that end they shall meet together, that they may not only\nreceive justice to themselves, but see justice done to the other party:\nfor this is the end of that great day, to reveal or declare the righteous\njudgment of God, Rom. ii. 5. Ministers shall have justice done them, and\nthey shall see justice done to their people: and the people shall receive\njustice and see justice done to their minister. And so all things will be\nadjusted and settled forever between them; every one being sentenced and\nrecompensed according to his works, either in receiving and wearing a\ncrown of eternal joy and glory, or in suffering everlasting shame and\npain.\n\nI come now to the next thing proposed, viz.,\n\nIII. To give some reasons why we may suppose God has so ordered it, that\nministers, and the people that have been under their care, shall meet\ntogether at the day of judgment, in such a manner and for such purposes.\n\nThere are two things which I would now observe:\n\n1. The mutual concerns of ministers and their people are of the greatest\nimportance.\n\nThe Scripture declares, that God will bring every work into judgment with\nevery secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. 'Tis fit\nthat all the concerns and all the behavior of mankind, both public and\nprivate, should be brought at last before God's tribunal, and finally\ndetermined by an infallible Judge: but it is especially requisite that it\nshould be thus, as to affairs of very great importance.\n\nNow the mutual concerns of a Christian minister and his church and\ncongregation are of the vastest importance: in many respects, of much\ngreater moment than the temporal concerns of the greatest earthly monarchs\nand their kingdoms or empires. It is of vast consequence how ministers\ndischarge their office, and conduct themselves towards their people in the\nwork of the ministry, and in affairs appertaining to it. 'Tis also a\nmatter of vast importance, how a people receive and entertain a faithful\nminister of Christ, and what improvement they make of his ministry. These\nthings have a more immediate and direct respect to the great and last end\nfor which man was made, and the eternal welfare of mankind, than any of\nthe temporal concerns of men, whether public or private. And therefore\n'tis especially fit that these affairs should be brought into judgment and\nopenly determined and settled in truth and righteousness; and that to this\nend, ministers and their people should meet together before the omniscient\nand infallible Judge.\n\n2. The mutual concerns of ministers and their people have a special\nrelation to the main things appertaining to the day of judgment.\n\nThey have a special relation to that great and divine person who will then\nappear as Judge. Ministers are his messengers, sent forth by him; and, in\ntheir office and administrations among their people, represent his person,\nstand in his stead, as those that are sent to declare his mind, to do his\nwork and to speak and act in his name. And therefore 'tis especially fit\nthat they should return to him, to give an account of their work and\nsuccess. The king is judge of all his subjects, they are all accountable\nto him. But it is more especially requisite that the king's ministers, who\nare especially intrusted with the administrations of his kingdom, and that\nare sent forth on some special negotiation, should return to him, to give\nan account of themselves, and their discharge of their trust, and the\nreception they have met with.\n\nMinisters are not only messengers of the person who at the last day will\nappear as Judge, but the errand they are sent upon, and the affairs they\nhave committed to them as his ministers, do most immediately concern his\nhonor and the interest of his kingdom. The work they are sent upon is to\npromote the designs of his administration and government; and therefore\ntheir business with their people has a near relation to the day of\njudgment; for the great end of that day is completely to settle and\nestablish the affairs of his kingdom, to adjust all things that pertain to\nit, that every thing that is opposite to the interests of his kingdom may\nbe removed, and that every thing which contributes to the completeness\nand glory of it may be perfected and confirmed, that this great King may\nreceive his due honor and glory.\n\nAgain, the mutual concerns of ministers and their people have a direct\nrelation to the concerns of the day of judgment, as the business of\nministers with their people is to promote the eternal salvation of the\nsouls of men and their escape from eternal damnation; and the day of\njudgment is the day appointed for that end, openly to decide and settle\nmen's eternal state, to fix some in a state of eternal salvation and to\nbring their salvation to its utmost consummation, and to fix others in a\nstate of everlasting damnation and most perfect misery. The mutual\nconcerns of ministers and people have a most direct relation to the day of\njudgment, as the very design of the work of the ministry is the people's\npreparation for that day. Ministers are sent to warn them of the approach\nof that day, to forewarn them of the dreadful sentence then to be\npronounced on the wicked, and declare to them the blessed sentence then to\nbe pronounced on the righteous, and to use means with them that they may\nescape the wrath which is then to come on the ungodly, and obtain the\nreward then to be bestowed on the saints.\n\nAnd as the mutual concerns of ministers and their people have so near and\ndirect a relation to that day, it is especially fit that those concerns\nshould be brought into that day, and there settled and issued; and that in\norder to this, ministers and their people should meet and appear together\nbefore the great Judge at that day.\n\n\nAPPLICATION\n\nThe improvement I would make of the things which have been observed, is to\nlead the people here present who have been under my pastoral care to some\nreflections, and give them some advice suitable to our present\ncircumstances; relating to what has been lately done in order to our\nbeing separated, as to the relation we have heretofore stood in one to\nanother; but expecting to meet each other before the great tribunal at the\nday of judgment.\n\nThe deep and serious consideration of that our future most solemn meeting\nis certainly most suitable at such a time as this; there having so lately\nbeen that done, which, in all probability, will (as to the relation we\nhave heretofore stood in) be followed with an everlasting separation.\n\nHow often have we met together in the house of God in this relation! How\noften have I spoke to you, instructed, counselled, warned, directed and\nfed you, and administered ordinances among you, as the people which were\ncommitted to my care, and whose precious souls I had the charge of! But in\nall probability this never will be again. deg.\n\nThe prophet Jeremiah (chap. xxv. 3), puts the people in mind how long he\nhad labored among them in the work of the ministry: \"From the thirteenth\nyear of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is\nthe three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord came unto me, and I\nhave spoken unto you, rising early and speaking.\" I am not about to\ncompare myself with the prophet Jeremiah; but in this respect I can say as\nhe did, that \"I have spoken the word of God to you unto the three and\ntwentieth year, rising early and speaking.\" It was three and twenty years,\nthe 15th day of last February, since I have labored in the work of the\nministry, in the relation of a pastor to this church and congregation. And\nthough my strength has been weakness, having always labored under great\ninfirmity of body, besides my insufficiency for so great a charge in other\nrespects, yet I have not spared my feeble strength, but have exerted it\nfor the good of your souls. I can appeal to you as the apostle does to his\nbearers, Gal. iv. 13, \"Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I\npreached the gospel unto you.\" I have spent the prime of my life and\nstrength in labors for your eternal welfare. You are my witnesses, that\nwhat strength I have had I have not neglected in idleness, nor laid out in\nprosecuting worldly schemes and managing temporal affairs, for the\nadvancement of my outward estate, and aggrandizing myself and family; but\nhave given myself wholly to the work of the ministry, laboring in it night\nand day, rising early and applying myself to this great business to which\nChrist appointed me. I have found the work of the ministry among you to be\na great work indeed, a work of exceeding care, labor and difficulty: many\nhave been the heavy burdens that I have borne in it, which my strength has\nbeen very unequal to. God called me to bear these burdens; and I bless his\nname, that he has so supported me as to keep me from sinking under them,\nand that his power herein has been manifested in my weakness; so that\nalthough I have often been troubled on every side, yet I have not been\ndistressed; perplexed, but not in despair; cast down, but not destroyed.\n\nBut now I have reason to think my work is finished which I had to do as\nyour minister: you have publicly rejected me, and my opportunities cease.\n\nHow highly therefore does it now become us to consider of that time when\nwe must meet one another before the chief Shepherd! When I must give an\naccount of my stewardship, of the service I have done for, and the\nreception and treatment I have had among, the people he sent me to: and\nyou must give an account of your own conduct towards me, and the\nimprovement you have made of these three and twenty years of my ministry.\nFor then both you and I must appear together, and we both must give an\naccount, in order to an infallible, righteous and eternal sentence to be\npassed upon us by him who will judge us with respect to all that we have\nsaid or done in our meeting here, all our conduct one towards another, in\nthe house of God and elsewhere, on Sabbath days and on other days; who\nwill try our hearts and manifest our thoughts, and the principles and\nframes of our minds, will judge us with respect to all the controversies\nwhich have subsisted between us, with the strictest impartiality, and will\nexamine our treatment of each other in those controversies. There is\nnothing covered that shall not be revealed, nor hid which shall not be\nknown; all will be examined in the searching, penetrating light of God's\nomniscience and glory, and by him whose eyes are as a flame of fire; and\ntruth and right shall be made plainly to appear, being stripped of every\nveil; and all error, falsehood, unrighteousness and injury shall be laid\nopen, stripped of every disguise; every specious pretence, every cavil and\nall false reasoning shall vanish in a moment, as not being able to bear\nthe light of that day. And then our hearts will be turned inside out, and\nthe secrets of them will be made more plainly to appear than our outward\nactions do now. Then it shall appear what the ends are which we have aimed\nat, what have been the governing principles which we have acted from, and\nwhat have been the dispositions we have exercised in our ecclesiastical\ndisputes and contests. Then it will appear whether I acted uprightly, and\nfrom a truly conscientious, careful regard to my duty to my great Lord and\nMaster, in some former ecclesiastical controversies, which have been\nattended with exceeding unhappy circumstances and consequences: it will\nappear whether there was any just cause for the resentment which was\nmanifested on those occasions. And then our late grand controversy,\nconcerning the qualifications necessary for admission to the privileges of\nmembers in complete standing in the visible church of Christ, will be\nexamined and judged in all its parts and circumstances, and the whole set\nforth in a clear, certain and perfect light. Then it will appear whether\nthe doctrine which I have preached and published concerning this matter be\nChrist's own doctrine, whether he will not own it as one of the precious\ntruths which have proceeded from his own mouth, and vindicate and honor\nas such before the whole universe. Then it will appear what is meant by\n\"the man that comes without the wedding garment\"; for that is the day\nspoken of, Matt. xxii. 13, wherein such an one shall be bound hand and\nfoot, and cast into outer darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of\nteeth. And then it will appear whether, in declaring this doctrine, and\nacting agreeable to it, and in my general conduct in the affair, I have\nbeen influenced from any regard to my own temporal interest or honor, or\ndesire to appear wiser than others; or have acted from any sinister,\nsecular views whatsoever; and whether what I have done has not been from a\ncareful, strict and tender regard to the will of my Lord and Master, and\nbecause I dare not offend him, being satisfied what his will was, after a\nlong, diligent, impartial and prayerful inquiry; having this constantly in\nview and prospect to engage me to great solicitude not rashly to determine\ntruth to be on this side of the question, where I am now persuaded it is,\nthat such a determination would not be for my temporal interest, but every\nway against it, bringing a long series of extreme difficulties and\nplunging me into an abyss of trouble and sorrow. And then it will appear\nwhether my people have done their duty to their pastor with respect to\nthis matter; whether they have shown a right temper and spirit on this\noccasion; whether they have done me justice in hearing, attending to and\nconsidering what I had to say in evidence of what I believed and taught as\npart of the counsel of God; whether I have been treated with that\nimpartiality, candor and regard which the just Judge esteemed due; and\nwhether, in the many steps which have been taken and the many things that\nhave been said and done in the course of this controversy, righteousness\nand charity and Christian decorum have been maintained; or, if otherwise,\nto how great a degree these things have been violated. Then every step of\nthe conduct of each of us in this affair, from first to last, and the\nspirit we have exercised in all shall be examined and manifested, and our\nown consciences shall speak plain and loud, and each of us shall be\nconvinced, and the world shall know; and never shall there be any more\nmistake, misrepresentation or misapprehension of the affair to eternity.\n\nThis controversy is now probably brought to an issue between you and me as\nto this world; it has issued in the event of the week before last: but it\nmust have another decision at that great day, which certainly will come,\nwhen you and I shall meet together before the great judgment seat: and\ntherefore I leave it to that time, and shall say no more about it at\npresent.\n\nBut I would now proceed to address myself particularly to several sorts of\npersons.\n\nI. To those who are professors of godliness amongst us.\n\nI would now call you to a serious consideration of that great day wherein\nyou must meet him who has heretofore been your pastor, before the Judge\nwhose eyes are as a flame of fire.\n\nI have endeavored, according to my best ability, to search the word of\nGod, with regard to the distinguishing notes of true piety, those by which\npersons might best discover their state, and most surely and clearly judge\nof themselves. And these rules and marks I have from time to time applied\nto you in the preaching of the word to the utmost of my skill, and in the\nmost plain and searching manner that I have been able, in order to the\ndetecting the deceived hypocrite and establishing the hopes and comforts\nof the sincere. And yet 'tis to be feared, that after all that I have\ndone, I now leave some of you in a deceived, deluded state; for 'tis not\nto be supposed that among several hundred professors, none are deceived.\n\nHenceforward I am like to have no more opportunity to take the care and\ncharge of your souls, to examine and search them. But still I entreat you\nto remember and consider the rules which I have often laid down to you\nduring my ministry, with a solemn regard to the future day when you and I\nmust meet together before our Judge; when the uses of examination you have\nheard from me must be rehearsed again before you, and those rules of trial\nmust be tried, and it will appear whether they have been good or not; and\nit will also appear whether you have impartially heard them, and tried\nyourselves by them; and the Judge himself, who is infallible, will try\nboth you and me: and after this none will be deceived concerning the state\nof their souls.\n\nI have often put you in mind that, whatever your pretences to experiences,\ndiscoveries, comforts and joys have been, at that day every one will be\njudged according to his works; and then you will find it so.\n\nMay you have a minister of greater knowledge of the word of God and better\nacquaintance with soul cases, and of greater skill in applying himself to\nsouls, whose discourses may be more searching and convincing; that such of\nyou as have held fast deceit under my preaching may have your eyes opened\nby his; that you may be undeceived before that great day.\n\nWhat means and helps for instruction and self-examination you may\nhereafter have is uncertain; but one thing is certain, that the time is\nshort, your opportunity for rectifying mistakes in so important a concern\nwill soon come to an end. We live in a world of great changes. There is\nnow a great change come to pass; you have withdrawn yourselves from my\nministry under which you have continued for so many years: but the time is\ncoming, and will soon come, when you will pass out of time into eternity;\nand so will pass from under all means of grace whatsoever.\n\nThe greater part of you who are professors of godliness have (to use the\nphrase of the apostle) \"acknowledged me in part\": you have heretofore\nacknowledged me to be your spiritual father, the instrument of the\ngreatest good to you that ever is or can be obtained by any of the\nchildren of men. Consider of that day when you and I shall meet before\nour Judge, when it shall be examined whether you have had from me the\ntreatment which is due to spiritual children, and whether you have treated\nme as you ought to have treated a spiritual father. As the relation of a\nnatural parent brings great obligations on children in the sight of God;\nso much more, in many respects, does the relation of a spiritual father\nbring great obligations on such whose conversation and eternal salvation\nthey suppose God has made them the instrument of: 1 Cor. iv. 15. \"For\nthough you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many\nfathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.\"\n\nII. Now I am taking my leave of this people I would apply myself to such\namong them as I leave in a Christless, graceless condition; and would call\non such seriously to consider of that solemn day when they and I must meet\nbefore the Judge of the world.\n\nMy parting with you is in some respects in a peculiar manner a melancholy\nparting; inasmuch as I leave you in most melancholy circumstances; because\nI leave you in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity, having the\nwrath of God abiding on you, and remaining under condemnation to\neverlasting misery and destruction. Seeing I must leave you, it would have\nbeen a comfortable and happy circumstance of our parting if I had left you\nin Christ, safe and blessed in that sure refuge and glorious rest of the\nsaints. But it is otherwise. I leave you far off, aliens and strangers,\nwretched subjects and captives of sin and Satan and prisoners of\nvindictive justice; without Christ and without God in the world.\n\nYour consciences bear me witness, that while I had opportunity, I have not\nceased to warn you and set before you your danger. I have studied to\nrepresent the misery and necessity of your circumstances in the clearest\nmanner possible. I have tried all ways that I could think of tending to\nawaken your consciences, and make you sensible of the necessity of your\nimproving your time, and being speedy in flying from the wrath to come and\nthorough in the use of means for your escape and safety. I have diligently\nendeavored to find out and use the most powerful motives to persuade you\nto take care for your own welfare and salvation. I have not only\nendeavored to awaken you, that you might be moved with fear, but I have\nused my utmost endeavors to win you: I have sought out acceptable words,\nthat if possible I might prevail upon you to forsake sin, and turn to God,\nand accept of Christ as your Saviour and Lord. I have spent my strength\nvery much in these things. But yet, with regard to you whom I am now\nspeaking to, I have not been successful: but have this day reason to\ncomplain in those words, Jer. vi. 29: \"The bellows are burnt, the lead is\nconsumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not\nplucked away.\" 'Tis to be feared that all my labors, as to many of you,\nhave served no other purpose but to harden you; and that the word which I\nhave preached, instead of being a savor of life unto life, has been a\nsavor of death unto death. Though I shall not have any account to give for\nthe future of such as have openly and resolutely renounced my ministry, as\nof a betrustment committed to me: yet remember you must give account for\nyourselves of your care of your own souls, and your improvement of all\nmeans past and future, through your whole lives. God only knows what will\nbecome of your poor, perishing souls, what means you may hereafter enjoy,\nor what disadvantages and temptations you may be under. May God in his\nmercy grant that, however all past means have been unsuccessful, you may\nhave future means which may have a new effect; and that the word of God,\nas it shall be hereafter dispensed to you, may prove as the fire and the\nhammer that breaketh the rock in pieces. However, let me now at parting\nexhort and beseech you not wholly to forget the warnings you have had\nwhile under my ministry. When you and I shall meet at the day of\njudgment, then you will remember 'em: the sight of me, your former\nminister, on that occasion, will soon revive 'em in your memory; and that\nin a very affecting manner. O don't let that be the first time that they\nare so revived.\n\nYou and I are now parting one from another as to this world; let us labor\nthat we mayn't be parted after our meeting at the last day. If I have been\nyour faithful pastor (which will that day appear, whether I have or no),\nthen I shall be acquitted, and shall ascend with Christ. O do your part,\nthat in such a case it may not be so, that you should be forced eternally\nto part from me and all that have been faithful in Christ Jesus. This is a\nsorrowful parting that now is between you and me, but that would be a more\nsorrowful parting to you than this. This you may perhaps bear without\nbeing much affected with it, if you are not glad of it; but such a parting\nin that day will most deeply, sensibly and dreadfully affect you.\n\nIII. I would address myself to those who are under some awakenings.\n\nBlessed be God that there are some such, and that (although I have reason\nto fear I leave multitudes in this large congregation in a Christless\nstate) yet I do not leave them all in total stupidity and carelessness\nabout their souls. Some of you that I have reason to hope are under some\nawakenings, have acquainted me with your circumstances; which has a\ntendency to cause me, now I am leaving you, to take my leave of you with\npeculiar concern for you. What will be the issue of your present exercise\nof mind I know not: but it will be known at that day, when you and I shall\nmeet before the judgment seat of Christ. Therefore now be much in\nconsideration of that day.\n\nNow I am parting with this flock, I would once more press upon you the\ncounsels I have heretofore given, to take heed of being slighty in so\ngreat a concern, to be thorough and in good earnest in the affair, and to\nbeware of backsliding, to hold on and hold out to the end. And cry\nmightily to God, that these great changes that pass over this church and\ncongregation don't prove your overthrow. There is great temptation in\nthem; and the devil will undoubtedly seek to make his advantage of them,\nif possible to cause your present convictions and endeavors to be\nabortive. You had need to double your diligence, and watch and pray, lest\nyou be overcome by temptation.\n\nWhoever may hereafter stand related to you as your spiritual guide, my\ndesire and prayer is, that the great Shepherd of the sheep would have a\nspecial respect to you, and be your guide (for there is none teacheth like\nhim), and that he who is the infinite fountain of light would \"open your\neyes, and turn you from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan\nunto God; that you may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among\nthem that are sanctified, through faith that is in Christ;\" that so, in\nthat great day, when I shall meet you again before your Judge and mine, we\nmay meet in joyful and glorious circumstances, never to be separated any\nmore.\n\nIV. I would apply myself to the young people of the congregation.\n\nSince I have been settled in the work of the ministry in this place I have\never had a peculiar concern for the souls of the young people, and a\ndesire that religion might flourish among them: and have especially\nexerted myself in order to it; because I knew the special opportunity they\nhad beyond others, and that ordinarily those whom God intended mercy for,\nwere brought to fear and love him in their youth. And it has ever appeared\nto me a peculiarly amiable thing, to see young people walking in the ways\nof virtue and Christian piety, having their hearts purified and sweetened\nwith a principle of divine love. And it has appeared a thing exceeding\nbeautiful, and what would be much to the adorning and happiness of the\ntown, if the young people could be persuaded when they meet together, to\nconverse as Christians, and as the children of God; avoiding impurity,\nlevity and extravagance; keeping strictly to the rules of virtue, and\nconversing together of the things of God and Christ and heaven. This is\nwhat I have longed for: and it has been exceeding grievous to me when I\nhave heard of vice, vanity and disorder among our youth. And so far as I\nknow my own heart, it was from hence that I formerly led this church to\nsome measures for the suppressing of vice among our young people, which\ngave so great offence, and by which I became so obnoxious. deg. I have sought\nthe good, and not the hurt of our young people. I have desired their\ntruest honor and happiness, and not their reproach; knowing that true\nvirtue and religion tended not only to the glory and felicity of young\npeople in another world, but their greatest peace and prosperity, and\nhighest dignity and honor, in this world; and above all things to sweeten\nand render pleasant and delightful even the days of youth.\n\nBut whether I have loved you and sought your good more or less, yet God in\nhis providence now calling me to part with you, committing your souls to\nhim who once committed the pastoral care of them to me, nothing remains\nbut only (as I am now taking my leave of you) earnestly to beseech you,\nfrom love to yourselves, if you have none to me, not to despise and forget\nthe warnings and counsels I have so often given you; remembering the day\nwhen you and I must meet again before the great Judge of quick and dead;\nwhen it will appear whether the things I have taught you were true,\nwhether the counsels I have given you were good, and whether I truly\nsought your good, and whether you have well improved my endeavors.\n\nI have, from time to time, earnestly warned you against frolicking (as it\nis called), and some other liberties commonly taken by young people in the\nland. And whatever some may say in justification of such liberties and\ncustoms, and may laugh at warnings against them, I now leave you my\nparting testimony against such things; not doubting but God will approve\nand confirm it in that day when we shall meet before him. deg.\n\nV. I would apply myself to the children of the congregation, the lambs of\nthis flock, who have been so long under my care.\n\nI have just now said that I have had a peculiar concern for the young\npeople; and in so saying I did not intend to exclude you. You are in\nyouth, and in the most early youth: and therefore I have been sensible\nthat if those that were young had a precious opportunity for their souls'\ngood, you who are very young had, in many respects, a peculiarly precious\nopportunity. And accordingly I have not neglected you: I have endeavored\nto do the part of a faithful shepherd, in feeding the lambs as well as the\nsheep. Christ did once commit the care of your souls to me as your\nminister; and you know, dear children, how I have instructed you, and\nwarned you from time to time; you know how I have often called you\ntogether for that end; and some of you, sometimes, have seemed to be\naffected with what I have said to you. But I am afraid it has had no\nsaving effects as to many of you; but that you remain still in an\nunconverted condition, without any real saving work wrought in your souls,\nconvincing you thoroughly of your sin and misery, causing you to see the\ngreat evil of sin, and to mourn for it, and hate it above all things, and\ngiving you a sense of the excellency of the Lord Jesus Christ, bringing\nyou with all your hearts to cleave to him as your Saviour, weaning your\nhearts from the world, and causing you to love God above all, and to\ndelight in holiness more than in all the pleasant things of this earth;\nand so that I now leave you in a miserable condition, having no interest\nin Christ, and so under the awful displeasure and anger of God, and in\ndanger of going down to the pit of eternal misery.\n\nBut now I must bid you farewell: I must leave you in the hands of God; I\ncan do no more for you than to pray for you. Only I desire you not to\nforget, but often think of the counsels and warnings I have given you,\nand the endeavors I have used, that your souls might be saved from\neverlasting destruction.\n\nDear children, I leave you in an evil world, that is full of snares and\ntemptations. God only knows what will become of you. This the Scripture\nhath told us, that there are but few saved; and we have abundant\nconfirmation of it from what we see. This we see, that children die as\nwell as others: multitudes die before they grow up; and of those that grow\nup, comparatively few ever give good evidence of saving conversion to God.\nI pray God to pity you, and take care of you, and provide for you the best\nmeans for the good of your souls; and that God himself would undertake for\nyou to be your heavenly Father and the mighty Redeemer of your immortal\nsouls. Do not neglect to pray for yourselves: take heed you ben't of the\nnumber of those who cast off fear and restrain prayer before God.\nConstantly pray to God in secret; and often remember that great day when\nyou must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and meet your minister\nthere, who has so often counselled and warned you.\n\nI conclude with a few words of advice to all in general, in some\nparticulars, which are of great importance in order to the welfare and\nprosperity of this church and congregation.\n\n1. One thing that greatly concerns you, as you would be a happy people, is\nthe maintaining of family order.\n\nWe have had great disputes how the church ought to be regulated; and\nindeed the subject of these disputes was of great importance: but the due\nregulation of your families is of no less, and, in some respects, of much\ngreater importance. Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little\nchurch, consecrated to Christ, and wholly influenced and governed by his\nrules. And family education and order are some of the chief of the means\nof grace. If these fail, all other means are like to prove ineffectual. If\nthese are duly maintained, all the means of grace will be like to prosper\nand be successful.\n\nLet me now, therefore, once more, before I finally cease to speak to this\ncongregation, repeat and earnestly press the counsel which I have often\nurged on heads of families here, while I was their pastor, to great\npainfulness in teaching, warning and directing their children; bringing\nthem up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; beginning early, where\nthere is yet opportunity, and maintaining a constant diligence in labors\nof this kind; remembering that, as you would not have all your\ninstructions and counsels ineffectual, there must be government as well as\ninstructions, which must be maintained with an even hand and steady\nresolution, as a guard to the religion and morals of the family and the\nsupport of its good order. Take heed that it be not with any of you as\nwith Eli of old, who reproved his children but restrained them not; and\nthat, by this means, you don't bring the like curse on your families as he\ndid on his.\n\nAnd let children obey their parents, and yield to their instructions, and\nsubmit to their orders, as they would inherit a blessing and not a curse.\nFor we have reason to think, from many things in the word of God, that\nnothing has a greater tendency to bring a curse on persons in this world,\nand on all their temporal concerns, than an undutiful, unsubmissive,\ndisorderly behavior in children towards their parents.\n\n2. As you would seek the future prosperity of this society, it is of vast\nimportance that you should avoid contention.\n\nA contentious people will be a miserable people. The contentions which\nhave been among you, since I first became your pastor, have been one of\nthe greatest burdens I have labored under in the course of my ministry:\nnot only the contentions you have had with me, but those which you have\nhad one with another about your lands and other concerns: because I knew\nthat contention, heat of spirit, evil speaking, and things of the like\nnature, were directly contrary to the spirit of Christianity, and did, in\na peculiar manner, tend to drive away God's Spirit from a people and to\nrender all means of grace ineffectual, as well as to destroy a people's\noutward comfort and welfare.\n\nLet me therefore earnestly exhort you, as you would seek your own future\ngood hereafter, to watch against a contentious spirit. deg. If you would see\ngood days, seek peace, and ensue it, 1 Pet. iii. 10, 11. Let the\ncontention which has lately been about the terms of Christian communion,\nas it has been the greatest of your contentions, so be the last of them. I\nwould, now I am preaching my farewell sermon, say to you, as the Apostle\nto the Corinthians, 2 Cor. xiii. 11, 12: \"Finally, brethren, farewell. Be\nperfect, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace\nshall be with you.\"\n\nAnd here I would particularly advise those that have adhered to me in the\nlate controversy, to watch over their spirits and avoid all bitterness\ntowards others. Your temptations are, in some respects, the greatest;\nbecause what has been lately done is grievous to you. But however wrong\nyou may think others have done, maintain, with great diligence and\nwatchfulness, a Christian meekness and sedateness of spirit; and labor, in\nthis respect, to excel others who are of the contrary part. And this will\nbe the best victory: for \"he that rules his spirit, is better than he that\ntakes a city.\" Therefore let nothing be done through strife or vainglory.\nIndulge no revengeful spirit in any wise; but watch and pray against it;\nand, by all means in your power, seek the prosperity of the town: and\nnever think you behave yourselves as becomes Christians, but when you\nsincerely, sensibly and fervently love all men, of whatever party or\nopinion, and whether friendly or unkind, just or injurious, to you or your\nfriends, or to the cause and kingdom of Christ.\n\n3. Another thing that vastly concerns the future prosperity of this town,\nis, that you should watch against the encroachments of error; and\nparticularly Arminianism and doctrines of like tendency.\n\nYou were, many of you, as I well remember, much alarmed with the\napprehension of the danger of the prevailing of these corrupt principles\nnear sixteen years ago. But the danger then was small in comparison of\nwhat appears now. These doctrines at this day are much more prevalent than\nthey were then: the progress they have made in the land, within this seven\nyears, seems to have been vastly greater than at any time in the like\nspace before: and they are still prevailing and creeping into almost all\nparts of the land, threatening the utter ruin of the credit of those\ndoctrines which are the peculiar glory of the gospel, and the interests of\nvital piety. And I have of late perceived some things among yourselves\nthat show that you are far from being out of danger, but on the contrary\nremarkably exposed. The older people may perhaps think themselves\nsufficiently fortified against infection; but it is fit that all should\nbeware of self-confidence and carnal security, and should remember those\nneedful warnings of sacred writ, \"Be not high-minded, but fear;\" and \"let\nhim that stands, take heed lest he fall.\" But let the case of the older\npeople be as it will, the rising generation are doubtless greatly exposed.\nThese principles are exceeding taking with corrupt nature, and are what\nyoung people, at least such as have not their hearts established with\ngrace, are easily led away with.\n\nAnd if these principles should greatly prevail in this town, as they very\nlately have done in another large town I could name, formerly greatly\nnoted for religion, and so for a long time, it will threaten the spiritual\nand eternal ruin of this people in the present and future generations.\nTherefore you have need of the greatest and most diligent care and\nwatchfulness with respect to this matter.\n\n4. Another thing which I would advise to, that you may hereafter be a\nprosperous people, is, that you would give yourselves much to prayer.\n\nGod is the fountain of all blessing and prosperity, and he will be sought\nto for his blessing. I would therefore advise you not only to be constant\nin secret and family prayer, and in the public worship of God in his\nhouse, but also often to assemble yourselves in private praying societies.\nI would advise all such as are grieved for the afflictions of Joseph, and\nsensibly affected with the calamities of this town, of whatever opinion\nthey be with relation to the subject of our late controversy, often to\nmeet together for prayer, and to cry to God for his mercy to themselves,\nand mercy to this town, and mercy to Zion and the people of God in general\nthrough the world.\n\n5. The last article of advice I would give (which doubtless does greatly\nconcern your prosperity), is, that you would take great care with regard\nto the settlement of a minister, to see to it who, or what manner of\nperson he is that you settle; and particularly in these two respects:\n\n(1) That he be a man of thoroughly sound principles in the scheme of\ndoctrine which he maintains.\n\nThis you will stand in the greatest need of, especially at such a day of\ncorruption as this is. And in order to obtain such a one, you had need to\nexercise extraordinary care and prudence. I know the danger. I know the\nmanner of many young gentlemen of corrupt principles, their ways of\nconcealing themselves, the fair, specious disguises they are wont to put\non, by which they deceive others, to maintain their own credit, and get\nthemselves into others' confidence and improvement, and secure and\nestablish their own interest, until they see a convenient opportunity to\nbegin more openly to broach and propagate their corrupt tenets.\n\n(2) Labor to obtain a man who has an established character, as a person of\nserious religion and fervent piety.\n\nIt is of vast importance that those who are settled in this work should be\nmen of true piety, at all times, and in all places; but more especially at\nsome times, and in some towns and churches. And this present time, which\nis a time wherein religion is in danger, by so many corruptions in\ndoctrine and practice, is in a peculiar manner a day wherein such\nministers are necessary. Nothing else but sincere piety of heart is at all\nto be depended on, at such a time as this, as a security to a young man,\njust coming into the world, from the prevailing infection, or thoroughly\nto engage him in proper and successful endeavors to withstand and oppose\nthe torrent of error and prejudice against the high, mysterious,\nevangelical doctrines of the religion of Jesus Christ, and their genuine\neffects in true experimental religion. And this place is a place that does\npeculiarly need such a minister, for reasons obvious to all.\n\nIf you should happen to settle a minister who knows nothing truly of\nChrist and the way of salvation by him, nothing experimentally of the\nnature of vital religion; alas, how will you be exposed as sheep without a\nshepherd! Here is need of one in this place, who shall be eminently fit to\nstand in the gap and make up the hedge, and who shall be as the chariots\nof Israel and the horsemen thereof. You need one that shall stand as a\nchampion in the cause of truth and the power of godliness.\n\nHaving briefly mentioned these important articles of advice, nothing\nremains but that I now take my leave of you, and bid you all _farewell_;\nwishing and praying for your best prosperity. I would now commend your\nimmortal souls to him, who formerly committed them to me, expecting the\nday, when I must meet you again before him, who is the Judge of quick and\ndead. I desire that I may never forget this people, who have been so long\nmy special charge, and that I may never cease fervently to pray for your\nprosperity. May God bless you with a faithful pastor, one that is well\nacquainted with his mind and will, thoroughly warning sinners, wisely and\nskilfully searching professors, and conducting you in the way to eternal\nblessedness. May you have truly a burning and shining light set up in this\ncandlestick; and may you, not only for a season, but during his whole\nlife, and that a long life, be willing to rejoice in his light.\n\nAnd let me be remembered in the prayers of all God's people that are of a\ncalm spirit, and are peaceable and faithful in Israel, of whatever opinion\nthey may be with respect to terms of church communion.\n\nAnd let us all remember and never forget our future solemn meeting on that\ngreat day of the Lord; the day of infallible decision and of the\neverlasting and unalterable sentence. AMEN.\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\nGOD GLORIFIED IN MAN'S DEPENDENCE\n\n1. =God Glorified.= The title-page of the original edition of this sermon,\nthe first work published by the author, reads as follows: \"God Glorified\nin the Work of Redemption by the Greatness of Man's Dependance upon Him,\nin the Whole of it. Preached on the Publick Lecture in Boston, July 8,\n1731. And published at the Desire of several, Ministers and Others, in\nBoston, who heard it. By Jonathan Edwards A.M. Pastor of the Church of\nChrist in Northampton. Judges 7. 2.--Lest Israel vaunt themselves against\nme, saying, mine own hand hath saved me. Boston: Printed by S. Kneeland,\nand T. Green, for D. Henchman, at the Corner Shop on the South-side of the\nTown-House. 1731.\"\n\nThe Public or Thursday Lecture, dating from the ordination of the Rev.\nJohn Cotton, in 1633, continued with occasional interruptions till the\nsiege of 1775, later revived and existing, it is claimed, still, or until\nrecently (see Dr. Samuel A. Eliot's Preface to _Pioneers of Religious\nLiberty in America_, Boston, 1903), was famous among the social and\nreligious institutions of colonial Boston. At one time the General Court\nregularly adjourned for it; that the Governor should keep Christmas and\nneglect it, was regarded by old Judge Sewall as a matter of grave\nreproach. The preachers were selected from the most eminent divines, not\nonly of Boston, but throughout the colony. It is recorded, for instance,\nof Solomon Stoddard, Edwards's grandfather and predecessor in the\nNorthampton pastorate, that he annually attended the Harvard Commencement\nand the day after preached the Public Lecture. It was a great honor,\ntherefore, for Edwards, a young man of twenty-seven, to be invited to\npreach on this foundation.\n\nHe himself seems to have fully appreciated both the honor and the\nopportunity. The original manuscript shows the most careful preparation.\nIn the statement of the Doctrine, for example, there are several erasures\nand corrections before the right formula is hit upon. The printed sermon\nshows still more elaboration. Edwards chose as his subject one aspect of a\ntheme which was central and controlling in his thought--God's sovereignty.\nHis mind had dwelt on this subject in all its bearings from childhood. He\nhad especially meditated upon it as it related to the doctrine of decrees,\na doctrine which he found at first revolting, but in the end \"exceedingly\npleasant, bright, and sweet.\" No one since Augustine has emphasized as he\nhas done the absolute sovereignty of God and the corresponding dependence\nof man. This conception of God's arbitrary will--arbitrary, not as\nirrational or unrelated to the divine justice and benevolence, but as\nbeing \"without restraint, or constraint, or obligation\"--was not only the\nbackbone of his system, but its heart, the principle which animates and\npulses through the whole of it. It is the ultimate basis alike of his\nphilosophy and of his religious faith. In this his first publication as in\nthe great theological treatises which were his last, he is everywhere the\nprophet-like champion of this supreme idea in opposition to all those\nschemes of divinity, generally denominated Arminian, which implied in his\nview a degree of independence in man inconsistent with the absolute\nsovereignty he regarded as the distinguishing glory of God.\n\nThe sermon created a profound impression, as is evident both from the\nimmediate demand for its publication, indicated on the title-page, and\nfrom the commendatory preface to the original edition signed by two of the\nforemost ministers of Boston, the Rev. Thomas Prince, of the Old South\nChurch, and the Rev. William Cooper, of the Brattle Street Church. \"It\nwas with no small difficulty,\" these gentlemen write, \"that the author's\nyouth and modesty were prevailed on, to let him appear a preacher in our\npublic lecture, and afterwards to give us a copy of his discourse, at the\ndesire of diverse ministers, and others who heard it. But, as we quickly\nfound him to be a workman that need not be ashamed before his brethren,\nour satisfaction was the greater, to see him pitching upon so noble a\nsubject, and treating it with so much strength and clearness, as the\njudicious will perceive in the following composure: a subject which\nsecures to God his great design, in the work of fallen man's redemption by\nthe Lord Jesus Christ, which is evidently so laid out, as that the glory\nof the whole should return to him the blessed ordainer, purchaser, and\napplier; a subject which enters deep into practical religion; without the\nbelief in which, that must soon die in the hearts and lives of men. We\ncannot, therefore, but express our joy and thankfulness, that the great\nHead of the Church is pleased still to raise up, from among the children\nof his people, for the supply of his churches, those who assert and\nmaintain these evangelical principles; and that our churches,\nnotwithstanding all their degeneracies, have still a high value for just\nprinciples, and for those who publicly own and teach them. And, as we\ncannot but wish and pray, that the College in the neighbouring colony, as\nwell as our own, may be a fruitful mother of many such sons as the author;\nso we heartily rejoice, in the special favour of Providence, in bestowing\nsuch a rich gift on the happy church of Northampton, which has, for so\nmany lustres of years, flourished under the influence of such pious\ndoctrines, taught them in the excellent ministry of their late venerable\npastor, whose gift and spirit we hope will long live and shine in his\ngrandson, to the end that they may abound in all the lovely fruits of\nevangelical humility and thankfulness, to the glory of God.\"\n\n6. =It was of mere grace ... for our souls.= This passage may serve to\nillustrate the way Edwards expanded his sermons for the press (see\nIntroduction, p. xxix). The manuscript reads as follows: \"The Grace in\ngiving this Gift was great in proportion to our unworthiness, it was given\nto us who instead of meriting that of G. which is of such Infinite Value\nmerited Infinite Ill of him.\" Then follows a space, above and beneath\nwhich, between the lines, are the words, \"in proportion to the blessedness\nwe have benefit we have given in him.\" Continuing: \"the giver in giving\nthis gift is great according to the manner of giving. He gave him to us\nIncarnate he gave him to us slain that he might be a feast to our souls.\"\n\n\nTHE REALITY OF SPIRITUAL LIGHT\n\n21. =Divine and Supernatural Light.= The original title-page of this, the\nauthor's second published sermon, reads as follows: \"A Divine and\nSupernatural Light, Immediately imparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God,\nshown to be both a Scriptural, and Rational Doctrine; In a Sermon Preach'd\nat Northampton, and Published at the Desire of some of the Hearers. By\nJonathan Edwards, A.M. Pastor of the Church there. Job 28, 20. Whence\nthen cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? Prov. 2, 6.\nThe Lord giveth wisdom. Is. 42, 18. Look ye blind, that ye may see. 2.\nPet. 1, 19. Until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts.\nBoston: Printed by S. Kneeland and T. Green, M,DCC,XXXIV.\" The sermon has\na preface in which Edwards modestly disclaims any forwardness or vanity in\npublishing it and begs his readers to peruse it without prejudice on this\nscore, or because of the unfashionableness of the subject. This to the\ngeneral public. What he says to his own people shows how affectionate\ntheir relations to their young minister were at this time and how high his\nregard was for them; it has a pathetic interest in view of their\npassionate rejection of him at the last. \"I have reason to bless God,\" he\nwrites, \"that there is a more happy union between us, than that you should\nbe prejudiced against any thing of mine, because 'tis mine.\" He\nfelicitates them on having been instructed in such doctrines as those in\nthe sermon from the beginning. \"And I rejoice in it,\" he adds, \"that\nProvidence, in this day of Corruption and Confusion, has cast my lot where\nsuch doctrines, that I look upon so much the life and glory of the Gospel,\nare not only own'd, but where there are so many, in whom the truth of them\nis so apparently manifest in their experience, that any one who has had\nthe opportunity of acquaintance with them, in such matters, that I have\nhad, must be very unreasonable to doubt of it.\"\n\nThis is justly regarded as \"one of the most beautiful and most eloquent\"\nof Edwards's sermons (A. V. G. Allen, _Jonathan Edwards_, p. 67). It was\npreached at a time when the signs were multiplying of an increased\ninterest in religion among the people of Northampton, preluding the great\nrevival of the next and the following years. The original manuscript bears\nthe date, August, 1733. The death of Mr. Stoddard in 1729 had removed the\nrestraints of a long-established and unquestioned authority, and the\nresults, as Edwards describes them, were deplorable. \"It seemed,\" he says,\n\"to be a time of extraordinary dullness in religion: licentiousness for\nsome years greatly prevailed among the youth of the town; they were many\nof them very much addicted to night walking, and frequenting the tavern,\nand lewd practices, wherein some by their example exceedingly corrupted\nothers.\" \"But in two or three years ... there began to be a sensible\namendment of these evils,\" and \"at the latter end of the year 1733, there\nappeared a very unusual flexibleness and yielding to advice\" in the young\n(_Narrative of Surprising Conversions_). The improved conditions reacted\non the preacher and, as a consequence, we have the sermon on Spiritual\nLight.\n\nThe principle enunciated in this sermon is the cardinal and controlling\nprinciple of the whole revival. The revival is just its exhibition and the\nexperienced evidence, for Edwards at least, of its truth. Nothing in his\naccount of the movement is more impressive than the way he studies it,\ntracing minutely the details of the process, wondering at its variety,\nwhereby the Holy Spirit makes real and effectual the divine message (see\nAllen, _op. cit._ pp. 143 ff.). There was nothing essentially new in the\nprinciple itself; that God directly influences the soul, that the soul is\ncapable of an immediate intuition of divine things, this had been the\ncommon teaching of all, and especially of all the Christian, mystics.\nIndeed, it may be doubted whether religion as a form of personal\nexperience does not universally involve a consciousness of some such\ntranscendent relationship (see W. James, _Varieties of Religious\nExperience_, Boston, 1902, _passim_). What was new in Edwards's\nformulation of the doctrine was his manner of defining it, the way in\nwhich he relates it to the other parts of his system, his insistence on\nthe supernatural character of this divine illumination, his sharp\ndistinction between common and special grace. His doctrine of supernatural\nlight appears, in fact, as a necessary corollary of his conception of the\nrelation of man and God in the work of redemption expressed in his sermon\non Man's Dependence. It is partly, at least, from this point of view that\nit seems to him not only scriptural, but reasonable. It was a doctrine\nintimately connected with his views of conversion. It was on this account\nno less than because of its emphasis of a mystical rather than a moral or\nlegal principle in religion, that Edwards can speak of the doctrine as\n\"unfashionable.\" The tendency of the age was to find more power in the\nnatural constitution of man than he was willing to allow. Historically,\nhowever, it is in just this emphasis on the inner experience of the light\nand life of God in the heart that Edwards makes the transition from the\nolder Calvinism to the more liberal theology of our own day.\n\nThe manuscript of this sermon is more than usually full of erasures and\ninsertions, making it almost impossible to read, but suggesting something\nof the labor and care expended on its composition. It is written on\ntwenty-six pages of the size of the facsimile in this volume, the last\npage containing only a line and a half. But the printed sermon is more\nfully elaborated.\n\n\nRUTH'S RESOLUTION\n\n45. =Ruth's Resolution.= This sermon was one of five \"Discourses on Various\nImportant Subjects, Nearly concerning the great Affair of the Soul's\nEternal Salvation: viz. I. Justification by Faith Alone. II. Pressing into\nthe Kingdom of God. III. Ruth's Resolution. IV. The Justice of God in the\nDamnation of Sinners. V. The Excellency of Jesus Christ. Delivered in\nNorthampton, chiefly in the time of the late wonderful pouring out of the\nSpirit of God there. By Jonathan Edwards A.M. Pastor of the Church of\nChrist in Northampton. Deut. iv. 8 [9]--Take heed to thyself, and keep thy\nsoul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen,\nand lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life. Boston:\nPrinted and sold by S. Kneeland and T. Green, in Queen Street over against\nthe Prison. MDCCXXXVIII.\" The first four of these discourses were preached\nduring the revival of 1734-1735 and were selected by the desire of the\npeople as those from which they had derived special benefit; the fifth was\nselected by Edwards himself at the request of some persons from a\nneighboring town who heard it, and because he thought that a sermon on the\nexcellency of Christ might appropriately follow the others, which were of\nan awakening character. They were prefixed to the American reprint of the\n_Narrative of Surprising Conversions_, which was first published in\nEngland. The cost of their publication was defrayed by the\ncongregation,--a clear evidence of their deep interest, as they were at\nthe time heavily burdened by the expenses of the new meeting-house. See\nDwight, _Life of Edwards_, pp. 140 f.; cf. n. here following, p. 162.\n\nThe sermon on Ruth's Resolution has been selected as the shortest of the\nabove discourses to illustrate a type of revival sermon in marked contrast\nto the sermon on Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. They all, however,\nbear out Edwards's own testimony concerning his preaching: \"I have not\nonly endeavored to awaken you, that you might be moved with fear, but I\nhave used my utmost endeavors to win you\" (Farewell Sermon). The\nmanuscript of the sermon is dated April, 1735, and it seems to have been\nprinted very nearly as it was written.\n\n\nTHE MANY MANSIONS\n\n59. =The Many Mansions.= The Ms. of this hitherto unpublished sermon is\ndated, \"The Sabbath after the seating of the New Meeting House, Dec. 25,\n1737.\" The occasion was one of special interest to the people of\nNorthampton. The old meeting-house, erected in 1661, had become too small\nfor the congregation and dangerously dilapidated; in fact, on a Sunday in\nMarch in the year the new building was completed, while Edwards was\npreaching, just after he had \"laid down his doctrines\" from the text,\n\"Behold, ye despisers, wonder and perish,\" the front gallery, \"with a\nnoise like a clap of thunder,\" suddenly and dramatically fell.\nFortunately--by a special providence, it seemed to Edwards--no one of the\nhundred and fifty persons, more or less, involved in the catastrophe\nperished, or even had a bone broken, and only ten were hurt \"so as to make\nany great matter of it.\" But the event showed that the building of a new\nmeeting-house had been undertaken none too soon. The question of this new\nbuilding had been brought forward in the town meeting of the spring of\n1733, but it was first decided on in November, 1735, determined in part,\nno doubt, by the great revival of that year, when sixty, eighty, and a\nhundred were received into the church on successive communions. It then\ntook two years to complete the structure. Incidentally, sixty-nine\ngallons of rum, besides numerous barrels of \"cyder\" and beer, were\nconsumed by the workmen during the erection of the framework alone. Sixty\nmen were engaged at 5s. a day for this part of the work, \"they keeping\nthemselves\"--as Deacon Hunt's journal has it--\"excepting drinks.\"\n\nWhen the building, like several others of the period, a commodious, oblong\nstructure with a tower, belfry and weather-cock vane at one end of it, was\nnearly finished, the important matter of seating the congregation was\ntaken up. This also was an affair of the town. It had already been decided\nat the annual town meeting in the spring to have pews along the walls and\n\"seats\" or benches only on both sides of the \"alley\" (broad aisle). The\nactual plan of the sittings, still extant, shows pews also around the\nbenches on the floor, separated from the wall-pews by the narrow aisles,\nand five pews in the gallery. These pews were of the high, square variety,\nwith seats on hinges, and were evidently regarded as places of superior\ndignity. Towards the end of the year, the town held a series of meetings\nwith especial reference to the seating. The question of primary importance\nconcerned the apportioning of the sittings according to social rank. At\nthe meeting in November, a committee of five of the most prominent\ncitizens was instructed to draw up \"their Scheam or Platt for Seating of\nthe meeting House and present it to the Town\" for approval. The following\nmonth the committee was further instructed by the following votes:\n\n\"1. Voted That in Seating the new meeting House the committee have Respect\nprincipally to men's estate.\n\n\"2. To have Regard to men's Age.\n\n\"3. Voted that some Regard and Respect [be paid] to men's usefullness, but\nin a less Degree.\" And that no mistake should be made, a committee of six\nwas appointed to \"estimate the pews and seats,\" that is, to \"dignify\" or\nappraise their social value.\n\nAnother connected question concerned the seating of the sexes. At the\nmeeting in November, it was voted that males should be at the south,\nfemales at the north, end; the men at the right of the pulpit, the women\nat the left. At the first meeting in December the town distinctly refused\nto allow men and their wives to sit together. But this was clearly opposed\nto the sentiment of some of the more influential members of the community,\nfor at the adjourned meeting four days later, when \"The Question was put\nwhether the Committee be forbidden to Seat men & their wives together,\nEspecially Such as Incline to Sit together: It passed in the Negative.\"\nUnder this indirect and qualified authorization, married people were for\nthe most part seated together in the pews, but apart on the benches, while\nin some cases the husband was assigned to a pew and the wife to a bench.\n\nThe events and conditions here described are reflected in Edwards's\nsermon, especially in what he says of the extent of the \"accommodations\"\nin heaven and in his remarks on the \"seats of various dignity and\ndifferent degrees and circumstances of honor and happiness\" there, as\ncompared with what we find in houses of worship on earth.\n\nAs indicating the size of Edwards's Northampton congregation, it may be\ninteresting to observe that the seating-plan above referred to contains\nthe names of nearly six hundred persons. And he had his audience all about\nhim. The pulpit, surmounted by a huge sounding board, was in the middle of\none of the longer sides of the building, not at the end, as is the custom\nnow. For further particulars, see J. R. Trumbull, _History of\nNorthampton_, Vol. II, Chap. vi.\n\nThis sermon is more fully written out than most of Edwards's unpublished\nsermons. In preparing the copy for the present volume, the editor had in\nmind the general analogy of the other sermons here published. The\nabbreviations--X (Christ), G. (God), F. H. (Father's House), etc.--have\naccordingly been interpreted, and omitted sentences or phrases, indicated\nin the Ms. by dashes or spaces, have been supplied from the context. All\nsuch additions, however, are inserted within square brackets.\n\n\nSINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD\n\n78. =Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.= The full title-page of this,\nEdwards's most famous sermon, read in the original edition as follows:\n\"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. A sermon Preached at Enfield, July\n8th 1741. At a time of great Awakenings; and attended with remarkable\nImpressions on many of the Hearers. By Jonathan Edwards A.M. Pastor of the\nChurch of Christ in Northampton. Amos ix. 2, 3.--Though they dig into\nHell, thence shall mine Hand take them; though they climb up to Heaven,\nthence will I bring them down. And though they hide themselves in the Top\nof Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid\nfrom my Sight in the Bottom of the Sea, thence will I command the Serpent,\nand he shall bite them. Boston: Printed and Sold by S. Kneeland and T.\nGreen in Queen Street over against the Prison, 1741.\"\n\nBenjamin Trumbull in his _History of Connecticut_ (New Haven, 1818), Vol.\nII, p. 145, records the circumstances under which this sermon was\ndelivered as told to him by Mr. Wheelock, a minister from Connecticut\n(Enfield, Conn., was at that time included in Hampshire County, Mass.),\nwho heard it. \"While the people in neighboring towns,\" writes Trumbull,\n\"were in great distress for their souls, the inhabitants of that town were\nvery secure, loose, and vain. A lecture had been appointed at Enfield, and\nthe neighboring people, the night before, were so affected at the\nthoughtlessness of the inhabitants, and in such fear that God would, in\nhis righteous judgment, pass them by, while the divine showers were\nfalling all around them, as to be prostrate before him a considerable part\nof it, supplicating mercy for their souls. When the time appointed for the\nlecture came, a number of the neighboring ministers attended, and some\nfrom a distance. When they went into the meeting-house, the appearance of\nthe assembly was thoughtless and vain. The people hardly conducted\nthemselves with common decency. The Rev. Mr. Edwards, of Northampton,\npreached, and before the sermon was ended, the assembly appeared deeply\nimpressed and bowed down, with an awful conviction of their sin and\ndanger. There was such a breathing of distress and weeping, that the\npreacher was obliged to speak to the people and desire silence, that he\nmight be heard. This was the beginning of the same great and prevailing\nconcern in that place, with which the colony in general was visited.\" The\ncircumstances, thus, under which this sermon was preached were\nexceptional; the excitement of the Great Awakening was at its height; the\ncongregation to whom the sermon was addressed were notorious for their\napathy; Edwards doubtless felt that an exceptionally strong presentation\nof their danger was necessary to arouse them. And this sermon is probably\nthe most tremendous of its kind ever delivered by a Christian minister.\n\nThe kind, however, was by no means exceptional in Edwards's preaching,\nparticularly at this period. Believing as he did that the decisions of men\nin this life were fraught with the most momentous issues to all eternity,\nhe held it his bounden duty to present these issues before them in the\nliveliest manner possible.[16] The Justice of God in the Damnation of\nSinners; The Future Punishment of the Wicked Unavoidable and Intolerable;\nThe Eternity of Hell Torments; When the Wicked shall have filled up the\nMeasure of their Sin, Wrath will come upon them to the Uttermost; The End\nof the Wicked contemplated by the Righteous; or, The Torments of the\nWicked in Hell, no occasion of grief to the Saints in Heaven; Wicked Men\nuseful in their Destruction only,--these are among the titles of his\nsermons. Moreover, there is reason to believe that this very sermon, or\nits like, was used on other occasions besides the one to which it is\nexplicitly ascribed. There is a tradition[17] that Edwards preached it\nonce when Whitfield had disappointed an audience by not appearing, and\nthat he produced a great effect by it. The manuscript is dated _June_,\n1741, which suggests that it may have been preached in Northampton, or\nelsewhere, the month before it was attended with such remarkable\nimpressions on the hearers in Enfield. But still more significant is the\nexistence of an undated second sermon from the same text. In this, which\nwas undoubtedly of earlier origin, the thought is somewhat differently\nworked out: it is less lurid, less fully elaborated, less terrific; but it\ncontains many of the ideas, for example, on the uncertainty of life, the\nsuddenness with which destruction may overtake the sinner, etc., that are\nfound in the Enfield sermon. Edwards was evidently fascinated by the\ntheme; he works it out with the sure touch of a great artist, with the\nintellectual force of the skilled dialectician. And he proclaims his\nmessage with the intensity of conviction of an Old Testament prophet. No\nwonder his hearers were moved. The effect would certainly have been less\ngreat had there been any note or personal vindictiveness in the preaching.\nBut there is nothing of this; it is not in this sense that the sermon can\nbe called \"imprecatory.\" On the contrary, so far as Edwards's personal\nattitude is concerned, it is not difficult to detect in it the pathos and\nthe pity of the gentlest of men weeping over the senseless folly of those\nwho, blind to impending destruction, refuse repeated invitations of safety\n(cf. Matt. xxiii. 37). For the rest, he is quite impersonal, detached; the\ntruth he preaches is sure, awful, but objective. On the modern reader the\nsermon is likely to produce a very painful impression, unless he, for his\npart, reads it in the same impersonal, detached way. It is not only the\nrealism of the presentation, but the harshness of the doctrine, which\noffends. Edwards, for instance, frequently speaks of the reason why\nsinners are not immediately cast into hell; but the reason assigned is not\nthe mercy or goodness or love of God, but His mere power and sovereign\npleasure. This is one aspect of the truth of the spiritual universe as\nEdwards sees it. He is not a sentimentalist; he proclaims the truth as he\nfinds it. As far as Edwards himself is concerned, there is nothing in the\nwhole sermon, or in any of his \"imprecatory\" sermons, so called, half as\nrevolting as Dante's attitude towards sinners in hell. Take, for instance,\nthe case of Filippo Argenti in the Lake of Mud (_Inferno_, Canto viii.):\n\"'Master, I should much like to see him ducked in this broth before we\ndepart from the lake.' And he to me, 'Ere the shore allows thee to see it\nthou shalt be satisfied; it will be fitting that thou enjoy such a\ndesire.' After this a little I saw such rending of him by the muddy folk\nthat I still praise God therefor, and thank Him for it. All cried, 'At\nFilippo Argenti!' and the raging Florentine spirit turned upon himself\nwith his teeth.\"\n\n89. =The God that holds you ... drop down into hell.= This is probably the\nbest remembered paragraph in this all too well remembered sermon.\nComparison with the original manuscript shows some interesting variants\nfrom the printed text, and at the same time gives evidence of the\ndeliberateness with which the sentences were wrought out with reference to\ntheir calculated effect. For both reasons the passage is here reproduced\nas written.\n\n\"You are over the pit of hell in Gods hand very much as one holds a spider\nor some loathsome Insect over the fire & 'tis nothing but for God to let\nyou go & you fall in.\" (Here follow four undecipherable lines, which\napparently, however, do not belong in this connection. The passage then\ncontinues on the next page of the Ms.) \"& this G. that thus holds you in\nhis hand is very angry with you & dreadfully provoked. ____ his wrath\nburns like fire. ____ you are lothsome and hatefull in his eyes & and\nworthy to be burnt--he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be\ncast into the fire you are ten thous. times more loathsome in his eyes\nthan the most noisome insect in the eyes of us men ____ & you have\noffended him a thous. times so much as ever an obstinate rebel did his\nprince. ____ & yet you are in his hands & tis nothing at all but his mere\npleasure that he keeps you from falling into hell every moment ____ there\nis no other reason to be given why you did not go to hell last night why\nyou did not wake up in hell after you had closed your eyes to sleep &\nthere is no other reason to be given why you have [not] drop'd since you\nrose in the morning ____ yea since you sit on here in the house of G.\nProvoking his pure Eyes by your sinfull wicked manner of attending his\nHoly worship ____ Yea there is nothing else to be given as the Reason why\nyou don't this very moment drop down into hell.\"\n\nBetween the sentences here separated by longer spaces, lines curving from\nthe lower part of the preceding to the upper part of the following are\ndrawn, indicating possibly rhetorical pauses in the delivery and\nsuggesting to the modern reader a succession of waves, wave on wave of\nhorror, each more overwhelming than the one that went before.\n\nThe above passage is contained in the manuscript under division I. of the\n\"Application,\" division II. beginning, \"And consider here more\nparticularly\" (p. 89). The four divisions thereafter following correspond\nroughly to those in the printed edition, but are mere headings, and differ\nfrom the six divisions first sketched. Inserted in the manuscript is a\nloose sheet containing in Edwards's handwriting a careful outline of the\nwhole sermon, such as he might have made when preparing the sermon for the\npress or used as notes for preaching. The manuscript of the entire sermon\nis short, but twenty-two pages of writing and one blank leaf.\n\n\nA STRONG ROD BROKEN\n\n98. =God's Awful Judgment.= The manuscript of this sermon is dated, \"On\noccasion of the death of Col. Stoddard June 1748.\" It consists of\nfifty-two pages of the usual size of Edwards's manuscript sermons, but\nwith the unusual feature of being written in double columns. The paper\nused was partly that of letters addressed to Edwards, the writing being in\nplaces across the address, and the stamp marks being removed;\npartly--about twenty pages--pieces of fine, soft paper, deep cut around\nthe upper edges, believed to be scraps of the paper used by Mrs. Edwards\nand her daughters in making fans. The sermon is evidently written at high\npressure, with few corrections and fairly fully. The title-page of the\nfirst edition reads as follows: \"A Strong Rod broken and withered. A\nSermon Preached in Northampton, in the Lord's Day, June 26. 1748 On the\nDeath of The Honourable John Stoddard, Esq. Often a Member of his\nMajesty's Council, For many Years Chief Justice of the Court of Common\nPleas for the County of Hampshire, Judge of the Probate of Wills, and\nChief Colonel of the Regiment, &c. Who died in Boston June 19. 1748. in\nthe 67th Year of his Age. By Jonathan Edwards A.M. Pastor of the first\nChurch in Northampton. Dan. iv. 35--He doth according to his Will in the\nArmy of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the Earth; and none can stay\nhis Hand, or say unto Him, What dost thou? Boston Printed by Rogers and\nFowle for J. Edwards in Cornhill 1748.\"\n\nColonel Stoddard was the eighth child and fourth son of the Rev. Solomon\nStoddard, and therefore Edwards's uncle on his mother's side. He was a man\nof great prominence in all the leading affairs of the town, the county,\nand the colony. \"His life,\" says Trumbull (_History of Northampton_, Vol.\nII, p. 172), \"was the connecting link between the two series of great\nleaders who controlled the affairs of Western Massachusetts for nearly a\ncentury and three-quarters. His predecessors were John Pynchon of\nSpringfield and Samuel Partridge of Hatfield; following him came Joseph\nHawley and Caleb Strong of Northampton, and these five men were the\nleaders in the Colony, the Province and the State.\" He was a stalwart\nupholder of royalty and the royal prerogative, and for this reason had\nmany opponents; but the general esteem in which he was held is evidenced\nby his many offices and by the fact that he was seventeen times reelected\nthe representative of the county to the General Court. He was a valued\nfriend of Governor Shirley, in connection with whom there is a\ncharacteristic story of him. It is that he once called and asked to see\nthe Governor when the latter had a party dining with him, but declined the\nservant's invitation to come in. The company were surprised and shocked at\nwhat they regarded as an act of discourtesy to the chief magistrate. \"What\nis the gentleman's name?\" asked the Governor. \"I think,\" replied the\nservant, \"he told me his name was Stoddard.\" \"Is it?\" said the Governor.\n\"Excuse me, gentlemen, if it is Col. Stoddard, I must go to him.\" (From\n_Dwight's Travels_, Vol. I, p. 332, quoted by Trumbull, _op. cit._ p.\n173.) His death removed one of Edwards's strongest supporters and probably\ncontributed to the tragic issue of the great controversy in which the\npreacher was now engaged. In this connection it is interesting to find\nthat Colonel Stoddard in 1736 helped to lay out the township of\nStockbridge and that he had much to do toward establishing the mission to\nthe Indians there, to the conduct of which Edwards was called after his\ndismissal from Northampton. Edwards's sermon is an eulogy, but there is\nevery reason to suppose that it gives on the whole a just impression of\nStoddard's character, services, and attainments. On him, see further\nTrumbull, _op. cit._ Vol. II, Chap. xiii.\n\n116. =Present war.= King George's French and Indian War (1744-1748-9).\nColonel Stoddard, as commander of the Hampshire forces, directed the\nmilitary operations in that part of the country until his death. Major\nIsrael Williams of Hatfield, who later succeeded to the command, writing\nunder date of June 25, 1748, to Secretary Willard, says: \"We are now like\nsheep without a shepherd.... God has been pleased to take him (who was in\na great measure our wisdom and strength and glory) from us at a time when\nwe could least spare him.\" (Trumbull, _op. cit._ Vol. II, p. 158.)\n\n\nFAREWELL SERMON\n\n118. =A Farewell Sermon.= \"A Farewel-Sermon Preached at the first Precinct\nin Northampton, After the People's publick Rejection of their Minister,\nand renouncing their Relation to Him as Pastor of the Church there, On\nJune 22. 1750 Occasion'd by Difference of Sentiments, concerning the\nrequisite Qualifications of Members of the Church, in compleat Standing.\nBy Jonathan Edwards, A.M. Acts xx. 18. Ye know, from the first day that I\ncame into Asia, after what Manner I have been with you, at all Seasons.\nver. 20. And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but\nhave showed you, and have taught you publickly, and from House to House.\nver. 26, 27. Wherefore I take you to Record this Day, that I am pure from\nthe Blood of all Men: For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the\nCounsel of God. Gal. iv. 15, 16. Where is then the Blessedness ye spake\nof? For I bear you Record, that if it had been possible, ye would have\nplucked out your own Eyes, and have given them to me. Am I then become\nyour Enemy, because I tell you the Truth? Boston Printed and sold by S.\nKneeland over against the Prison in Queen-Street. 1751.\"--Title-page of\nthe first edition.\n\nThe preface to this sermon is a document so important for the\nunderstanding of it, that it is here, as is usual also in other editions,\nprinted in full.\n\n_Preface._ It is not unlikely, that some of the readers of the following\nsermon may be inquisitive concerning the circumstances of the difference\nbetween me and the people of Northampton, that issued in that separation\nbetween me and them, which occasioned the preaching of this farewell\nsermon. There is, by no means, room here for a full account of that\nmatter: but yet it seems to be proper, and even necessary, here to correct\nsome gross misrepresentations, which have been abundantly, and ('tis to be\nfeared) by some affectedly and industriously made, of that difference:\nsuch as, that I insisted on persons being assured of their being in a\nstate of salvation, in order to my admitting them into the church; that I\nrequired a particular relation of the method and order of a person's\ninward experience, and of the time and manner of his conversion, as the\ntest of his fitness for Christian communion; yea, that I have undertaken\nto set up a pure church, and to make an exact and certain distinction\nbetween saints and hypocrites, by a pretended infallible discerning [of]\nthe state of men's souls; that in these things I had fallen in with those\nwild people, who have lately appeared in New England, called Separatists;\nand that I myself was become a grand Separatist; and that I arrogated all\nthe power of judging of the qualifications of candidates for communion\nwholly to myself, and insisted on acting by my sole authority, in the\nadmission of members into the church, &c.\n\nIn opposition to these slanderous representations, I shall at present only\ngive my reader an account of some things which I laid before the council,\nthat separated between me and my people, in order to their having a just\nand full view of my principles relating to the affair in controversy.\n\nLong before the sitting of the council, my people had sent to the Reverend\nMr. Clark of Salem village, desiring him to write in opposition to my\nprinciples. Which gave me occasion to write to Mr. Clark, that he might\nhave true information what my principles were. And in the time of the\nsitting of the council, I did, for their information, make a public\ndeclaration of my principles before them and the church, in the\nmeeting-house, of the same import with that in my letter to Mr. Clark, and\nvery much in the same words: and then, afterwards, sent in to the council\nin writing, an extract of that letter, containing the information I had\ngiven to Mr. Clark, in the very words of my letter to him, that the\ncouncil might read and consider it at their leisure, and have a more\ncertain and satisfactory knowledge what my principles were. The extract\nwhich I sent in to them was in the following words:\n\n     \"I am often and I don't know but pretty generally, in the country,\n     represented as of a new and odd opinion with respect to the terms of\n     Christian communion, and as being for introducing a peculiar way of\n     my own. Whereas I don't perceive that I differ at all from the scheme\n     of Dr. Watts in his book entitled, _The Rational Foundation of a\n     Christian Church, and the Terms of Christian Communion_; which, he\n     says, is the common sentiment of all reformed churches. I had not\n     seen this book of Dr. Watts' when I published what I have written on\n     the subject. But yet I think my sentiments, as I have expressed them,\n     are as exactly agreeable to what he lays down, as if I had been his\n     pupil. Nor do I at all go beyond what Dr. Doddridge plainly shows to\n     be his sentiments, in his _Rise and Progress of Religion_, and his\n     _Sermons on Regeneration_, and his Paraphrase and Notes on the New\n     Testament. Nor indeed, sir, when I consider the sentiments you have\n     expressed in your letters to Major Pomroy and Mr. Billing, can I\n     perceive but that they come exactly to the same thing that I\n     maintain. You suppose the sacraments are not converting ordinances:\n     but that, 'as seals of the covenant, they presuppose conversion,\n     especially in the adult; and that it is visible saintship, or, in\n     other words, a credible profession of faith and repentance, a solemn\n     consent to the gospel covenant, joined with a good conversation, and\n     competent measure of Christian knowledge, is what gives a gospel\n     right to all sacred ordinances: but that it is necessary to those\n     that come to these ordinances, and in those that profess a consent to\n     the gospel covenant, that they be sincere in their profession,' or at\n     least should think themselves so.--The great thing which I have\n     scrupled in the established method of this church's proceeding, and\n     which I dare no longer go on in, is their publicly assenting to the\n     form of words rehearsed on occasion of their admission to the\n     communion, without pretending thereby to mean any such thing as any\n     hearty consent to the terms of the gospel covenant, or to mean any\n     such faith or repentance as belong to the covenant of grace, and are\n     the grand conditions of that covenant: it being, at the same time\n     that the words are used, their known and established principle which\n     they openly profess and proceed upon, that men may and ought to use\n     these words and mean no such thing, but something else of a nature\n     far inferior; which I think they have no distinct, determinate notion\n     of; but something consistent with their knowing that they do not\n     choose God as their chief good, but love the world more than him, and\n     that they do not give themselves up entirely to God, but make\n     reserves; and in short, knowing that they do not heartily consent to\n     the gospel covenant, but live still under the reigning power of the\n     love of the world, and enmity to God and Christ. So that the words of\n     their public profession, according to their openly established use,\n     cease to be of the nature of any profession of gospel faith and\n     repentance, or any proper compliance with the covenant: for 'tis\n     their profession, that the words, as used, mean no such thing. The\n     words used under these circumstances, do at least fail of being a\n     _credible_ profession of these things. I can conceive of no such\n     virtue in a certain set of words, that it is proper, merely on the\n     making of these sounds, to admit persons to Christian sacraments,\n     without any regard to any pretended meaning of these sounds: nor can\n     I think that any institution of Christ has established any such terms\n     of admission into the Christian church. It does not belong to the\n     controversy between me and my people, how particular or large the\n     profession should be that is required. I should not choose to be\n     confined to exact limits as to that matter; but rather than contend,\n     I should content myself with a few words, briefly expressing the\n     cardinal virtues or acts implied in a hearty compliance with the\n     covenant, made (as should appear by inquiry into the person's\n     doctrinal knowledge) understandingly; if there were an external\n     conversation agreeable thereto: yea, I should think, that such a\n     person, solemnly making such a profession, had a right to be received\n     as the object of a public charity, however he himself might scruple\n     his own conversion, on account of his not remembering the time, not\n     knowing the method of his conversion, or finding so much remaining\n     sin, &c. And (if his own scruples did not hinder his coming to the\n     Lord's table) I should think the minister or church had no right to\n     debar such a professor, though he should say he did not think himself\n     converted; for I call that a profession of godliness, which is a\n     profession of the great things wherein godliness consists, and not a\n     profession of his own opinion of his good estate.\"\n\n     Northampton, May 7, 1750.\n\n\n     Thus far my Letter to Mr. Clark.\n\nThe council having heard that I had made certain draughts of the covenant,\nor forms of a public profession of religion which I stood ready to accept\nof from the candidates for church communion, they, for their further\ninformation, sent for them. Accordingly I sent them four distinct draughts\nor forms, which I had drawn up about a twelvemonth before, as what I stood\nready to accept of (any one of them) rather than contend and break with my\npeople.\n\nThe two shortest of these forms are here inserted for the satisfaction of\nthe reader. They are as follows.\n\n     \"I hope I do truly find a heart to give up myself wholly to God,\n     according to the tenor of that covenant of grace which was sealed in\n     my baptism; and to walk in a way of that obedience to all the\n     commandments of God, which the covenant of grace requires, as long as\n     I live.\" Another,\n\n     \"I hope I truly find in my heart a willingness to comply with all the\n     commandments of God, which require me to give up myself wholly to\n     him, and to serve him with my body and my spirit. And do accordingly\n     now promise to walk in a way of obedience to all the commandments of\n     God, as long as I live.\"\n\nSuch kind of professions as these I stood ready to accept, rather than\ncontend and break with my people. Not but that I think it much more\nconvenient, that ordinarily the public profession of religion that is made\nby Christians should be much fuller and more particular; and that (as I\nhinted in my letter to Mr. Clark) I should not choose to be tied up to any\ncertain form of words, but to have liberty to vary the expressions of a\npublic profession the more exactly to suit the sentiments and experience\nof the professor, that it might be a more just and free expression of what\neach one finds in his heart.\n\nAnd moreover it must be noted, that I ever insisted on it, that it\nbelonged to me as a pastor, before a profession was accepted, to have full\nliberty to instruct the candidate in the meaning of the terms of it, and\nin the nature of the things proposed to be professed; and to inquire into\nhis doctrinal understanding of these things, according to my best\ndiscretion; and to caution the person, as I should think needful, against\nrashness in making such a profession, or doing it mainly for the credit of\nhimself or his family, or from any secular views whatsoever, and to put\nhim on serious self-examination, and searching his own heart, and prayer\nto God to search and enlighten him that he may not be hypocritical and\ndeceived in the profession he makes; withal pointing forth to him the\nmany ways in which professors are liable to be deceived.\n\nNor do I think it improper for a minister in such a case, to inquire and\nknow of the candidate what can be remembered of the circumstances of his\nChristian experience; as this may tend much to illustrate his profession\nand give a minister great advantage for proper instructions: though a\nparticular knowledge and remembrance of the time and method of the first\nconversion to God is not to be made the test of a person's sincerity, nor\ninsisted on as necessary in order to his being received into full charity.\nNot that I think it at all improper or unprofitable, that in some special\ncases a declaration of the particular circumstances of a person's first\nawakening and the manner of his convictions, illuminations and comforts,\nshould be publicly exhibited before the whole congregation, on occasion of\nhis admission into the church; though this be not demanded as necessary to\nadmission. I ever declared against insisting on a relation of experience,\nin this sense (viz., a relation of the particular time and steps of the\noperation of the Spirit in first conversion), as the term of communion:\nyet, if by a relation of experiences, he meant a declaration of experience\nof the great things _wrought_, wherein true grace and the essential acts\nand habits of holiness consist; in this sense, I think an account of a\nperson's experiences necessary in order to his admission into full\ncommunion in the church. But that in whatever inquiries are made, and\nwhatever accounts are given, neither minister nor church are to set up\nthemselves as searchers of hearts, but are to accept the serious, solemn\nprofession of the well instructed professor, of a good life, as best able\nto determine what he finds in his own heart.\n\nThese things may serve in some measure to set right those of my readers\nwho have been misled in their apprehensions of the state of the\ncontroversy between me and my people, by the forementioned\nmisrepresentations.\n\n     JONATHAN EDWARDS.\n\n135. =But in all probability this will never be again.= It is sometimes\nasserted that Edwards never again occupied the pulpit in Northampton. This\nis not true. He preached, in fact, twelve Sundays, though, to be sure, not\nconsecutively and only when other supplies could not be secured, before\nhis removal to Stockbridge. There is perhaps more reason for the statement\nof Dr. Hopkins, quoted by Dwight (_op. cit._ p. 418), that the town at\nlast--it is thought in November, 1750--voted that he should preach no\nlonger. But the records of town and precinct are alike silent on this\nmatter, the only vote bearing on it being one passed by the precinct in\nNovember, \"to pay Mr. Edwards L10 old tenor per Sabbath for the time he\npreached here since he was dismissed.\" Trumbull, who has established this\nfact (_History of Northampton_, Vol. II, p. 227), says that the last\nsermon by Edwards in Northampton was in the afternoon of October 13, 1751,\nfrom the text Heb. xi. 16. But even this is doubtful; for among the\nmanuscripts in New Haven, Professor Dexter discovered a sermon on 2 Cor.\niv. 6 marked as preached in Northampton, May 1755, and in a book of plans\nof sermons at least three notes of texts and doctrines of the same period\nmarked as designed for Northampton. (F. B. Dexter, _The Manuscripts of\nJonathan Edwards_, p. 8.)\n\n145. =By which I became so obnoxious.= The excitement of the Great\nAwakening was followed by a period of laxity. In 1744 Edwards was informed\nthat a number of the young people of his congregation, of both sexes, were\nreading immoral books, which fostered lascivious and obscene conversation.\nTo check the evil, he preached a sermon, of the frankness of which we may\njudge from the published sermon on \"Joseph's Temptation,\" from Heb. xii.\n15, 16, and after the service communicated to the brethren of the church\nthe evidence in his possession with a view to further action. A committee\nof inquiry was appointed to assist the pastor in examining into the affair\nat a meeting at his house. Edwards then read the names of the young people\nto be summoned as witnesses or as accused, but without discriminating\nbetween the two classes. When the names were thus published, it was found\nthat most of the leading families of the town were implicated. \"The town\nwas suddenly all on a blaze.\" Many of the heads of families refused to\nproceed with the investigation; many of the young people summoned to the\nmeeting refused to come, and those who did come acted with insolence.\nEdwards never thereafter succeeded in reestablishing his authority. For\nyears not a single candidate appeared for admission to the church. See\nHopkins, _Life of Edwards_ (1765), pp. 53 ff. Dwight, _op. cit._ pp. 299\nf., copies Hopkins's account almost verbatim, but without acknowledgment.\n\n146. =I have ... meet before him.= The company keeping and worldly\namusements of the young people were an old grievance with Edwards. Writing\nof the period before the revival of 1734-1735, he says, \"It was their\nmanner very frequently to get together in conventions of both sexes, for\nmirth and jollity, which they called frolicks; and they would often spend\nthe greater part of the night in them, without any regard to order in the\nfamilies they belong to.\" How the young people amused themselves in these\n\"conventions,\" we can only conjecture; it is certain that some, at least,\nof the parents saw no harm in them. But Edwards's idea of family\ngovernment was very different. \"He allowed not his children to be from\nhome after nine o'clock at night, when they went abroad to see their\nfriends and companions. Neither were they allowed to sit up much after\nthat time, in his own house, when any came to make them a visit. If any\ngentleman desired acquaintance with his daughters, after handsomely\nintroducing himself, by properly consulting the parents, he was allowed\nall proper opportunity for it: a room and fire, if needed; but must not\nintrude on the proper hours of rest and sleep, or the religion and order\nof the family.\" (Hopkins, _op. cit._ p. 44.) We have reason to think that\nsome of the \"other liberties commonly taken by young people in the land\"\nwere calculated to favor anything rather than refinement and\nspirituality.\n\n149. =A contentious spirit.= History in a general way corroborates the\nfollowing testimony of Edwards concerning the contentious spirit in the\npeople of Northampton: \"There were some mighty contests and controversies\namong them in Mr. Stoddard's day, which were managed with great heat and\nviolence; some great quarrels in the church, wherein Mr. Stoddard, great\nas his authority was, knew not what to do with them. In one ecclesiastical\ncontroversy in Mr. Stoddard's day, wherein the church was divided into two\nparties, the heat of spirit was raised to such a degree, that it came to\nhard blows. A member of one party met the head of the opposite party and\nassaulted him and beat him unmercifully. There has been for forty or fifty\nyears a sort of settled division of the people into two parties, somewhat\nlike the Court and Country party in England (if I may compare small things\nwith great). There have been some of the chief men in the town, of chief\nauthority and wealth, that have been great proprietors of their lands, who\nhave had one party with them. And the other party, which has commonly been\nthe greatest, have been of those who have been jealous of them, apt to\nenvy them, and afraid of their having too much power and influence in town\nand church. This has been a foundation of innumerable contentions among\nthe people, from time to time, which have been exceedingly grievous to me,\nand by which doubtless God has been dreadfully provoked, and his Spirit\ngrieved and quenched, and much confusion and many evil works have been\nintroduced.\" Letter of July 1, 1751 to Rev. Thomas Gillespie. Cf.\nTrumbull, _History of Northampton_, Vol. II, p. 36.\n\n\n\n\nFootnotes:\n\n[1] See J. A. Stoughton, _Windsor Farmes_, p. 39 and p. 69 n. Students of\nheredity may perhaps here find a clew to the character of Edwards's\nbrilliant, wayward grandson, Aaron Burr.\n\n[2] See H. N. Gardiner, _The Early Idealism of Edwards_ in Jonathan\nEdwards: a Retrospect, pp. 115-160: Boston, 1901. Cf. J. H. MacCracken,\n_The Sources of Jonathan Edwards's Idealism_, Philos. Rev., xi. 26 ff.\n(Jan. 1902).\n\n[3] That to the church at Bolton, Conn. But for some reason, not now\napparent, he was never installed there. See S. Simpson, _Jonathan\nEdwards--a Historical Review_, Hartford Seminary Record. xiv. 11\n(November, 1903).\n\n[4] First printed by Dwight, _Life of President Edwards_, p. 114, and\nfrequently reproduced. It has been compared to Dante's description of\nBeatrice, which in pure lyric quality it certainly equals, though it lacks\nthe latter's sensuous coloring and imaginative idealization. The\ncomparison is made by A. V. G. Allen, _The Place of Edwards in History_,\nin Jonathan Edwards: a Retrospect, p. 7; the contrast is pointed out by\nJohn De Witt, Stockbridge (1903), Oration, p. 45 (pub. by the Berkshire\nConference).\n\n[5] Solomon Clark, _Historical Catalogue of the Northampton First Church_,\npp. 40-67 (Northampton, 1891), prints the list in full.\n\n[6] See note, p. 179.\n\n[7] It is impossible here to go into the history of this famous\ncontroversy. Something concerning it will be found in the notes, pp. 172\nff.; Dwight, _op. cit._, pp. 298-448, prints the documents from Edwards's\nJournal in full; the records of the church are silent. It should be\nstated, perhaps, in fairness to the Northampton people, that the pastoral\nrelation was not then, as is sometimes supposed, regarded as indissoluble;\nsix clergymen were \"dismissed\" from neighboring churches between 1721 and\n1755. Moreover, Edwards, eminent as he undoubtedly was as a preacher, was\nto them only the parish minister; his great fame as a theologian was\nestablished later. Cf. Trumbull, _History of Northampton_, II, 225. It is\nalso not unreasonable to suppose that the spiritual capacities of the\npeople had been overstimulated. The later repentance of Joseph Hawley (see\nDwight, _op. cit._, p. 421), Edwards's cousin, who had taken a leading\npart in the movement against him, concerns only the spirit of the\nopposition; it does not seriously question the wisdom, under the\ncircumstances, of the separation.\n\n[8] Aaron Burr, the Vice-President of the United States, who killed\nAlexander Hamilton in a duel, was their son.\n\n[9] See, e.g., the incident recorded by Dwight, _op. cit._, p. 133, where\nthe rapture lasts for about an hour, accompanied for the greater part of\nthe time \"with tears and weeping aloud.\"\n\n[10] See F. B. Dexter, _The Manuscripts of Jonathan Edwards_, p. 7.\n(Reprinted from the Proceedings of the Mass. Hist. Soc., March, 1901.)\n\n[11] As, e.g., in the great ethical sermon on the Sin of Theft and of\nInjustice from the text, \"Thou shalt not steal.\" Works, Worcester reprint,\nIV, 601.\n\n[12] Examples of this are found in the manuscript sermons on John i. 47\nand John i. 41, 42, which are here taken as typical.\n\n[13] Samuel Hopkins, _Life of Edwards_, p. 48.\n\n[14] As illustrating the expansion in the printed sermon as compared with\nthe manuscript prepared for preaching, see note p. 157.\n\n[15] The next neighbor town.\n\n[16] \"If I am in danger of going to hell, I should be glad to know as much\nas possibly I can of the dreadfulness of it. If I am very prone to neglect\ndue care to avoid it, he does me the best kindness who does most to\nrepresent to me the truth of the case, that sets forth my misery and\ndanger in the liveliest manner.\"--Sermon on The Distinguishing Marks of a\nWork of the Spirit of God.\n\n[17] As Professor A. V. G. Allen informs the editor in a letter, Jan. 23,\n1904.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nPassages in italics are indicated by _italics_.\n\nPassages in bold are indicated by =bold=.\n\nThe original text includes several intentional blank spaces. These are\nrepresented by ____ in this text version.\n\nThe misprint \"dont\" has been corrected to \"don't\" (page 169).\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Selected Sermons of Jonathan Edwards","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":71397}