Sermon 8

Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

It's a great encouragement and delight to the ministers of the Gospel, and it's comfortable and refreshing to hearers, when the message of the Gospel is received, and our Lord Jesus Christ is welcomed; but on the contrary, it's burdensome and heavy when there are few or none that believe and receive the report, when their labour and strength is spent in vain, and when all the assemblings of them together that hear the Word of the Gospel, is but a trading of the Lord's courts in vain. If there were no more to prove it, this complaint of Isaiah, speaking in his own name, and in name of all the ministers of the Gospel, is sufficient; for as comfortable messages as he carried, (and he carried as comfortable messages as any that we hear of,) yet there was a general non-profiting by the Word of the Gospel in his mouth. When we meet with such words as these, our hearts should tremble, when we consider how general and rife an evil unbelief and the not receiving of Christ is, how horrible a sin, how abominable to God, and how hazardous and destructive to ourselves it is, and how rare a thing it is to see or find any number believing and receiving this message of the Gospel.

We spoke from these words to these doctrines. First, that where the Gospel comes, it makes offer of Jesus Christ to all that hear it. Secondly, that the great thing called for in the hearers of the Gospel, is faith in him. Thirdly, that yet notwithstanding, unbelief is an exceeding rife evil in the hearers of the Gospel. Fourthly, that it's a very sinful, heavy, and sad thing not to receive Christ and believe in him, all which are implied in this short, but sad complaint, Who has believed our report?

We would now prosecute the use and scope of this. The last use was a use of conviction of, and expostulation with the hearers of the Gospel, for their being so fruitless under it, serving to discover a great deceit among hearers, who think they believe and yet do it not; from where it is that so many are mistaken about their souls' state, and most certainly the generality are mistaken, who live as if believing were a thing common to all professors of faith, while as it is so rare, and there are so very few that believe.

The next use is, a use of exhortation to you, that seeing unbelief is so great an evil, you would by all means eschew it; and seeing faith is the only way to receive Christ, and to come at life through him, you would seek after it to prevent the evil of unbelief. This is the scope of the words, indeed, and of all our preaching, that when Christ, and remission of sins through him, is preached to you, you would by faith receive him, and rest upon him for obtaining right to him and to the promises, and for preventing of the threats and curses that await unbelievers. We shall not again repeat what faith is, only in short it comes to this, that seeing Christ has satisfied justice for sinners, and his satisfaction is offered in the Gospel to all that will receive it, even to all the hearers of the Gospel, that sinners in the sight and sense of their lost condition would flee to him, receive and rest upon him and his satisfaction, for pardon of sin, and making of their peace with God. Is there need of arguments to persuade you to this? If you be convinced of your sinfulness, and of your lost estate without Christ, and that there is a judgment to come when sinners must appear before him, and be judged according to that which they have done in the body, and if you have the faith of this, that sinners that are not found in Christ, cannot stand; (as by the way, woe to that man that is not found in him, if it were a Paul, for even he, he is only happy by being found in him not having his own righteousness but Christ's,) and moreover, that there is no other way to be found in him but by faith, (which is that which Paul has for his main scope, Philippians 3:9-10,) then to be found in him by faith, should be your main work and study. This is it that we should design and endeavour, and to this we have access by the Gospel; and it is in short, to be denuded of, and denied to our own righteousness, as to any weight we lay upon it for our justification before God, and to have no other thing but Christ's righteousness offered in the Gospel, and received by faith to rest upon for justification, and making of our peace with God. This is it that we command you to flee to, and by all means to seek an interest in, that when the Gospel makes offer of Christ, and righteousness through his satisfaction, and commands you to believe on him, when it lays him to your door, to your mouth and heart, that you would roll, and lay yourselves over on him for the making of your peace, and the bearing of you through in the day of your reckoning before the tribunal of God.

That we may speak the more clearly to this Use, we shall shortly show you, 1. What ground a lost sinner has to receive Christ, and to lippen to Him. 2. What warrants and encouragements a sinner has to lean and lippen to this ground. 3. We shall remove a doubt or two that may stand in the way of sinners resting on this ground. 4. We shall give some directions to further you to this. And 5. we shall give you some characters of one that is tenderly taking this way of believing: and because this is the way of the gospel, and we are sure there is not a word you have more need of, or that through God's blessing may be more useful, and there is not a word more uncontrovertible, which all of you will assent to the truth of, to wit, that there is a great good in believing, and a great evil in unbelief, we would exhort you the more seriously to lay it to heart. O! think not that our coming to speak and hear is for the fashion, but to profit. Cast yourselves therefore open to the exhortation, and let the word of faith sink down into your hearts, considering that there is nothing you have more need of than of faith, and that you will not find it safe for you to hazard your souls on your own righteousness, or to appear before God without Christ's righteousness, and that the only way to come by it is faith. This may let you see the necessity of believing, and that it is of your concern to try how it is with you as to that; and therefore again and again, we would exhort you in the fear of God, that you would not neglect so great a salvation, which through faith is to be obtained, but lay it to heart, as you would not have all the servants of God, who have preached the gospel to you, complaining of you. It is our bane that we suspect not ourselves, and indeed it is a wonder that those who have immortal souls, and profess faith in Christ, should yet live so secure, and under so little care, and holy solicitude to know, whether they have believed or not, and should with so little serious concern, put the matter to a trial. But we proceed to the particulars we proposed to speak to.

And first to this, that you have a good solid ground to believe on; for clearing of which, we would put these three together. 1. The fullness and sufficiency of the Mediator Jesus Christ, in whom all the riches of the gospel are treasured up, in whom, and by whom our happiness comes, and who wants nothing that may fit Him to be a Savior, who is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him. 2. The well-orderedness, freeness, and fullness of the covenant of grace, wherein it is transacted, that the fullness that is in the Mediator Christ shall be made forthcoming to believers in Him, and by which lost sinners that by faith flee to Him, have a solid right to His satisfaction, which will bear them out before God; by which transaction, Christ's satisfaction is made as really theirs, when by faith it is closed with, as if they had satisfied and paid the price themselves (2 Corinthians 5:21). He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him; and this consideration of the legality and order of the covenant serves exceedingly to clear our faith as to the ground of it, because by this covenant it is transacted and agreed upon, that Christ shall undergo the penalty, and that the believer in Him shall be reckoned the righteous person. If there be a reality in Christ's death and satisfaction to justice, if He has undergone the penalty and paid their debt, there is a reality in this transaction, as to the making over of what He has done and suffered, to believers in Him; and the covenant being sure and firm as to His part, He having confirmed it by His death, it is as sure and firm as to the benefit of it to the believer in Him. 3. The nature of the offer of this grace in the gospel, and the nature of the gospel that makes the offer of the fullness that is in Christ by virtue of the covenant; it is the Word of God, and has His authority when we preach it according to His command, as really as when He preached it Himself in Capernaum, or anywhere else, even as the authority of a king is with his ambassador, according to that (2 Corinthians 5:20): We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us — there is the Father's warrant and name interposed, and for the Son's, it follows, We pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God. Add to this, the nature of the offer, and the terms of it: there is no condition required on our part, as the precise condition of the covenant, but believing. Now, when these are conjoined, we put it to your conscience, if you have not a good ground to lippen to, and a sufficient foundation to build on? And if so, it ought to be a powerfully attractive motive to draw you to believe in Him, and to bring you to rest on Him by believing.

Secondly, we have also many warrants and encouragements to step forward, and when Christ in His fullness lays Himself before you, to roll over yourselves on Him, and to yield to Him; if we could speak of them suitably, they are such as may remove all deterring that any might have in coming to Him, and may serve to leave others inexcusable, and unanswerably to convince them that the main obstruction was in themselves, and that they would not come to Him for life, He called to them but none would exalt Him. 1. Do you not think that the offer of this Gospel is a sufficient warrant, and ground of encouragement to believe on Him? And if it be so to others, ought it not to be a sufficient warrant and encouragement to you? When He says (Psalm 81:10), "Open your mouth wide and I will fill it," what excuse can you have to shift or refuse the offer? If you think Christ real in His commands, is He not as real in His offers? 2. He has so ordered the administration of this Gospel, as He has purposely prevented any ground that folks may have of being deterred to close with Christ; He has so qualified the object of this grace in the Gospel, that those in all the world that men would think should be excluded, are taken in to be sharers of it, for it is sinners, lost sinners, self-destroyers, the ungodly, the sheep that have wandered, the poor, the needy, the naked, the captives, the prisoners, the blind, etc., according to that of (Isaiah 61:1-2), "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, He has sent me to preach glad tidings to the meek or poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to them that are bound," etc. And (Isaiah 55:1), those who are invited to come to the cried fair of grace are such as are thirsty, and such as lack money; who among men are used to be excluded, but in Grace's market they only are welcome, it is to them that grace says, come. And (Revelation 22:17), "Whoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely" — it is not only, to say so with reverence, those whom He wills, but it is, whoever will; and so if you want to come, grace puts the offer into your hand, as it were, to carve on; to let us know that He allows strong consolation on believers, and that either the hearers of this Gospel shall believe, or be left without all excuse. He has it to say, as it is (Isaiah 5), "What could I have done to my vineyard that I have not done" — if you had the offer at your own carving, what could you put more in it? It cannot be more free than without money, it cannot be more seriously pressed than with a "Ho" and cries to come. Sometimes He complains, as (John 5:40), "You will not come to me that you might have life," and sometimes weeps and mourns because sinners will not be gathered, as (Luke 19:41-42) and (Matthew 23:37) — can there be any greater evidences of reality in any offer? A third warrant is from the manner and form of Christ's administration: He has condescended to make a covenant, and many promises to draw folks to believe, to which He has added His oath, swearing by Himself, when He had not a greater to swear by, for our confirmation and consolation, as it is (Hebrews 6:16-17). And among men, you know, that an oath puts an end to all controversy, and what would you, or could you seek more of God, than His saying, writing, and swearing? He has done all this, that the heirs of promise may have strong consolation, who are fled for refuge to the hope set before them. O! will you not trust and credit God when He swears? Among other aggravations of unbelief this will be one, that by it you make God not only a liar, but perjured — a heavy, heinous, and horrid guilt on the score of all unbelievers of this Gospel. 4. To take away all controversy, He has interposed His command, indeed it is the great command, and in a manner, the one command of the Gospel (1 John 3:23): "This is his commandment, that you believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ," and therefore the offer of the Gospel and promulgation of it comes by way of command — "Ho come, believe," etc. — whereby the Lord would tell the hearers of the Gospel, that it is not left to their own option, or as a thing indifferent to them to believe or not to believe, but it is laid on them by the necessity of a command to believe. And if you think you may and should pray, sanctify the Sabbath, or obey any other command because He bids you, there is the same authority enjoining and commanding you to believe, and as great necessity lies on you to give obedience to this command as to any other. Do not therefore think it humility not to do it, for obedience is better than sacrifice.

For your further encouragement to believe, I would say three words which you would also look upon as warrants to believe, and by them know that it is a great sin not to believe. 1. You have no less ground or warrant than ever any that went before you had; David, Moses, Paul, etc. had no better warrant; my meaning is, you have the same covenant, the same Word and promises, Christ and his fullness, God and his faithfulness offered to you, the same warrant that God has given to all his people since ever he had a church; and do you not think but it will be a sad and grievous ground of challenge against you, when you shall see others that believe on the same grounds that you have, sit down in the kingdom of heaven, and yourselves as proud rebels shut out? Whatever difference there be as to the main work of grace, and of God's Spirit on the heart in the working of faith, yet the ground of faith is the Word that all hear who are in the visible church, and you having the same ground and object of faith in your offer, there will be no excuse for you if you do not believe. A second encouragement is, that the ground of faith is so solid and good, that it never disappoints any one that leans to it; and count the gospel a worthless and insignificant thing who will, it shall have this testimony, which damned unbelievers shall carry to hell with them, that it was the power of God to salvation to them that believed, and that there was nothing in the gospel itself that did prejudge them of the good of it, but that they prejudged themselves who did not trust to it; therefore the Word is called gold tried in the fire; all the promises having a being from Jehovah himself, not one jot or one title of them cannot fail nor fall to the ground. 3. If you were to carve out a warrant to yourselves, as I hinted before, what more could you desire? What do you miss in Christ? What clause can you desire to be inserted in the covenant that is not in it? It contains pardon of sin, healing of your backslidings, and what not? And he has said, sealed, and sworn it, and what more can you require? Therefore we would again exhort you in the name of Jesus Christ, and in his stead, not to neglect so great a salvation — O! receive the grace of God, and let it not be in vain.

In the third place, let us speak a word or two to some objections, or scruples, which may be moved in reference to what has been said. And, first, it may be some will say, that the covenant is not broad enough, because all are not elected, all are not redeemed nor appointed to be heirs of salvation; upon which ground temptation will sometime so far prevail, as to waken up a secret enmity at the gospel. But, 1. How absurd is this reasoning? Is there any that can rationally desire a covenant so broad, as to take in all as necessarily to be saved by it? There is much greater reason to wonder that any should be saved by it, than there is if all should perish; beside, we are not now speaking to the effects, but to the nature of the gospel, so that whoever perish, it is not because they were not elected, but because they believed not; and the bargain is not of the less worth, nor the less sure because some will not believe; and to say, that the covenant is not good enough because so many perish, it's even as if you should say, it's not a good bridge because some will not take it, but venture to go through the water and so drown themselves. 2. I would ask, Would you overturn the whole course of God's administration, and of the covenant of his grace? Did he ever à priori, or at first hand, tell folks that they were elected? Who ever got their election at the very first revealed to them? Or, who are now before the throne that ever made the keeping up of this secret from them, a bar or impediment to their believing? God's eternal purpose or decree is not the rule of our duty, nor the warrant of our faith, but his revealed will in his Word; let us seek to come to the knowledge of God's decree of election à posteriori, or by the effects which is a sure way of knowledge; our contending with his Word to know his decree, will not excuse, but make us more guilty; he has showed you, O man, says Micah (Micah 6:8), what is good, and what does the Lord require of you; and if any will scruple and demur on this ground to close the bargain, let them be aware that they provoke him not to bring upon them their own fears, by continuing them under that scrupling and demurring condition; you cannot possibly avoid hazard by looking on only, and not making use of Christ; therefore do not bring on your own ruin by your fear, which may be by grace prevented, and by this way of believing shall be certainly prevented.

But secondly, some may object and say, I am indeed convinced that believing is my duty, but that being a thing that I cannot do, why should I therefore set about it? Answer 1. This is a most unreasonable and absurd way of reasoning, for if it be given way to, what duty should we do? We are not of ourselves able to pray, praise, keep the Lord's Day, nor to do any other commanded duty, shall we therefore abstain from all duties? Our ability or fitness for duty, is not the rule of our duty, but God's command; and we are called to put our hand to duty in the sense of our own insufficiency, acknowledging God's sufficiency, which if we did, we should find it go better with us, and may not the same be expected in the matter of believing as well as in other duties? 2. None that ever heard this gospel shall in the day of judgment have this to object, none shall have it to say, that they would fain have believed, but their mere infirmity, weakness, and inability did impede them; for though it be our own sin and guilt that we are unable, yet where the gospel comes that is not the controversy; but that folks would not come to Christ, would not be gathered, that when He would, they would not; for where there is a will, to will and to do go together; but it's enmity at the way of believing, security, stupidity, senselessness, and carelessness what become of the immortal soul, that ruins folks; for the soul that would fain be at Christ, shall be helped to believe, the reason is, because the nature of the covenant of grace, and of the Mediator thereof, is such, that all to whom He gives to will, He gives them also to perform, and His faithfulness is engaged so to do: it must therefore return to one of these two, that either you will not receive Him, or else you are willing though weak; and if you be willing, faithful is He that has called you, who also will do it; but if it halt at your perverseness and willful refusal of the offer, there is good reason that in God's justice you should never get good of the gospel; in fact, there is never one to whom the gospel comes, and who does not believe, but formally, as it were, he passes a sentence on himself, as the word is (Acts 13:46). You judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, which the Apostle gathers from this ground, that they did not, neither would accept of Jesus Christ offered to them in the gospel; as the event is that follows on the offer, so will the Lord account of your receiving of it.

Fourthly, as for directions to help and further you to believe, it's not easy, but very difficult to give them, it being impossible to satisfy the curiosity of nature; neither can any directions be prescribed that without the special work of God's Spirit, can effectuate the thing; the renewing of the will, and the working of faith being effects and fruits of omnipotent grace; yet because something lies upon all the hearers of the Gospel as duty, and it being more suitable and congruous, that in the use of means, then when means are neglected, believing should be attained; and because often these that desire this question to be answered, to wit, how they may win at believing? are such as have some beginnings of the work of grace and of faith. We shall speak a few words to such as would be at believing and exercising of faith on Jesus Christ; and, 1. People had need to be clear in the common fundamental truths of the Gospel, they would know what their natural estate is, what their sin and misery is, and they would know the way how to win out of that state; ignorance often obstructs us in the way of believing, How shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard? (Romans 10:14). When people believe not, it is as if they had never heard. 2. When you have attained to the knowledge of the common truths of the Gospel, as of your sin and misery, the nature of the covenant, the Mediator and his fullness, etc. labor to fix well the historical faith of them, we are sure that many never come this length to believe the history of the Gospel, and till that be, they can advance no further; for as the word is (Hebrews 11:6), he that comes to God, must believe that he is, and a rewarder of them that diligently seek him; I say, these common simple truths of the Gospel would well be fixed by a historical faith; and yet this would not be rested on, because though they be excellent truths, yet they may be known and historically believed where saving faith and salvation follow not. 3. Be much in thinking, meditating, and pondering of, and on these things, let them sink down into your hearts, that the meditation of them may fix the faith of them, and that they may deeply affect us, we would seek to have a morally serious feeling of them, as we have of the common works of the Spirit; but there are many like the wayside hearers, who, as soon as they hear the word, some devil, like a crow, comes and picks it up; therefore to prevent this, you would seek to have the word of God dwelling richly in you, you would meditate on it till you be convinced of your danger, and get the affections some way stirred according to the nature of the word you meditate upon, whether threats or promises; the most part are affected with nothing, they know not what it is to tremble at a threat, nor smile as it were, on a promise, through their not dwelling on the thoughts of the word that it may produce such an effect. 4. When this is done, people would endeavor a full up-giving with the law of righteousness as to their justification, that if they cannot so positively and steadily win to rest on Jesus Christ and his righteousness, yet they may lay the weight of their peace with God on no other thing; they would lay it down for a certain conclusion, that by the works of the law they can never be justified, and would come with a stopped mouth before God; thus tender Christians will find it sometimes easier, to give up with the law, then to close with the Gospel, as to their distinct apprehension of the thing. 5. When this is done, go as it were to the top of Mount Nebo, and take a look of the pleasant land of promises, and of Christ held out in them, and let your soul say, O! to have the bargain well closed, to have my heart stirred up to love him, and to rest upon him, O! to have faith and to discern it in its actings; for when the life of faith is so weak that it cannot speak, yet it may breathe; and though you cannot exercise faith as you would, so as to grip to, and catch fast hold of the object, yet try seriously to do that far, as to esteem, love, and vehemently desire it; in this respect the will is said to go before the deed, though as to God's begetting of faith there be a contemporariness of the will and the deed, yet as to our sense the will outruns the deed, even as in another sense (though it makes well for this purpose,) the Apostle says, To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I know not; for we ought to have our will running after Christ, and believing on him when we cannot attain to the distinct actings of it.

But it may be here objected and said, Is not this presumption? Answer: If this were presumption, then all we have said of the warrant of the Gospel to believe is to no purpose; Christ never counted it presumption to desire and endeavor in His own way to believe on Him for attaining of life through Him; to desire heaven and peace with God, and to overlook Christ and pass Him by, were indeed presumption, but it is not so to desire these through Him. 6. When you have attained to this heart desire, if you cannot distinctly to your satisfaction act believing on Christ, you would firmly resolve to believe and essay it, and say, This is the way I will and must take, and no other, as David says (Psalm 16:2), "O my soul, you have said to the Lord, you are my Lord"; hence the exercise of faith is called a choosing of God (Deuteronomy 30:19) and (Joshua 24), and seriously, sincerely, and firmly to resolve thus is our duty when we can get to do no more; and it is no little advancement in believing when such resolution to believe is deliberately and soberly come under. 7. When this is done, people would not hold at a resolution, for to resolve and not to set forward will be found to be but an empty resolution; therefore having resolved (though still looking on the resolution as His gift), we would set about to perform and believe as we may, and when we cannot go, we would creep; when we cannot speak words of faith, we would let faith breathe; when it can neither speak nor breathe distinctly, we would let it pant: in a word, to be essaying the exercise of faith, and often renewing our essays at it, which if we did, we should make better progress in believing than we do; thus though you were walking under a conviction that you would do no more at this than a man whose arm is withered can do to stretch it forth, yet as the man with the withered hand at Christ's word of command essayed to stretch it forth and it went with him, or as the disciples when they had toiled long, even all the night, and caught nothing, yet at Christ's word let down the net and enclosed a multitude of fish; so, though you have essayed to act faith often, and yet made no progress, yet essaying it again on Christ's calling to it, it may and will through grace go with you. 8. When yet you do not make the progress you would, your shortcoming would be lamented and complained of to God, laying open to and before Him the heart, who can change it; and you would have it for a piece of your weight and burden that your heart does not so come up to and abide by believing; I would think it a good frame of spirit when the not having of the heart standing so fixed at believing is an exercise and a burden. 9. When all this is done in some measure, you would wait on in doing thus, and would continue in this way, looking to Him who is the Author and Finisher of faith, for His influence to make it go with you — to look to Him to be helped is the way to be helped to believe, or to pray to Him to better and amend faith is the way to have it bettered and amended; it is said (Psalm 34:5), "They looked to Him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed": and if it be said, How can one look that sees not? It is true, blind people cannot look, yet they may essay to look, and though there be but a glimmering, as the looking makes the faculty of seeing the better and more strong, so the exercise of faith makes faith to increase; this is what the Psalmist has (Psalm 30, last verse): "Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you that hope in the Lord"; that is, if you be weak, wait on and He shall strengthen you, believe and give not over, though to your sense you make no progress: beginners that are looking conscientiously to their way, though they have but a glimmering weak sight of Christ, and be as the man that at first saw [reconstructed: men] walking as trees, yet if they wait on, they may attain to a more distinct seeing, and to a more close and firm gripping of Christ.

We close with this word of note, that as we speak not of these things as being in man's power to be performed, so neither can they be gone about to purpose but where there is some faith and love; yet when they are at first looked on, they are some way more within our reach than the distinct exercise of faith, which is a great mystery. The Lord bless His Word, and make it useful to you.