Essay 4: The Mistaken Ways of Coming to God Without Christ
JOHN 14. 6. No Man cometh to the Father but by me.
IF the Race of Man were immortal on Earth, and Sinners were never summoned to die, or if they could put an eternal End to their Souls when the Body lies down in the Dust, there would be little Concern among us, How shall I come and appear before God? or What shall I do to obtain his Favor? Sinful Creatures seem to live well enough among the Cares or Amusements of this Life, though they are without God in the World; and if they could live for ever without seeing him, or could plunge into Death and the unseen World, and not meet him there, they would take no Thought about that grand Inquiry, which Balak the King of Moab thought to be of such Importance, Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, or how myself before the high God?
But when the Consciences of Men begin to be convinced that they are Transgressors against the Law of their Maker, and that they must one Day appear before him, as their Governor and their Judge, and answer for their Conduct, then they inquire in good earnest, What they shall do to stand in his Sight with Acceptance, or to draw near his Majesty without Terror? Then Reason and Nature exert all their Forces to find an Answer to this grand Question.
But Nature and Reason darkened and weakened by the Fall of Man, and unassisted by Revelation and divine Grace, lead them into many mistaken Ways, such as will never bring them into the Favor of him who made them, nor obtain true Happiness. Poor foolish and fallen Mankind is ready to try many means of procuring Eternal Life for themselves, before they will betake themselves to the one only Way which God has appointed by his Gospel, and that is, Faith in Jesus Christ.
Of the several mistaken Ways that Sinners are ready to choose in this Case, these three are the chief, (namely) The Way of supposed Innocency, The Way of Dependence on God's general Goodness, and the Way of their own Repentance and Self-Righteousness. Let us consider each of these, and inquire into the Justness of their Pretensions.
First, The Way of Innocency. How many Souls are there in such a Land as this, who come to God with a thoughtless Confidence, and expect to find Mercy at his Hands, though they are conscious they have not done so much Good as they ought, nor have been so religious as they should be? Yet they think they are harmless and have done no Wrong, and therefore they are safe for Eternity. Perhaps, by Education and other Methods of restraining Grace, they have escaped the viler Pollutions of the Age, and been preserved from gross Impieties: Then they hope and believe all shall go well with them, and dream of nothing but the Favor of God, and Happiness after Death, because their Life has been outwardly unblamable in the World. Thus they live, and thus they die.
Ask these Persons when they lie languishing on a dying Pillow, How they can venture to appear before the great, the just, and the holy God, in the World of Spirits? They will readily return this Answer, They have done no Harm, and they hope God will do them none; they have wronged no Man, and they know not why they should not be accepted by God. Poor ignorant, unthinking Creatures! One would wonder that so gross Blindness and Stupidity should remain on the Minds of any who sit under the preaching of the Law and Gospel. Let me endeavor to convince such Sinners here, and prove that this Hope is a false and dangerous one.
1. If it were possible that they should be found such as they suppose themselves, that is, innocent in their outward Carriages and Actions toward their fellow Creatures, yet have their Language and their Lips been always innocent too? Or if they have in the main learnt to bridle their Tongues from gross Falsehood, and Wrath, and Slander, yet have they never indulged evil Imaginations against their Neighbor, and the working of evil Passions? Sirs, if we construe the Law of Duty to extend to our Hearts, as well as to our Lips and our Lives, as our Savior has construed it in his Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5 and 6 and 7, who is there can ever plead Innocence?
You have kept your Actions to all Appearance tolerably blameless, with regard to Men, but have you never broken the last Command of the second Table, never desirous or covetous of another's Possessions in Thought, never been guilty of Immoralities in Heart? Can such Souls plead at the Bar of God, that they never allowed one envious Thought against their Neighbor, and never let loose a malicious Word? That they never coveted that which belonged to another, nor willfully lessened their Neighbor's good Name or Reputation? Did they never find Wrath or Revenge kindling and burning within them without Resistance? Did they never indulge the Motions of Lust or Intemperance, or any sinful Desire stirring in their Hearts? When the great Apostle, in the second and third Chapters to the Romans, is convincing all the World of Sin, and laying Mankind under a Sense of Guilt, he convinces them effectually by their Breach of the second Table, that all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. Romans 2. 21. and 3. 10, 12 to 14, etc.
Where is the Son or Daughter of Adam that can stand forth and say, I never dishonored Father or Mother, nor ever disobeyed the just Commands of my Superiors; I never was unreasonably angry against another; I never encouraged a wanton Thought within me, nor indulged any covetous and sinful Wish; I never broke the Rule of Temperance in eating and drinking, nor ever gave way to an irregular Passion. I never was guilty of known Falsehood in Design or in Word. Let Mankind take but these Laws of God, which regard themselves and their Neighbors, and make a sincere Examination of themselves thereby, and their own Consciences will soon condemn the very best of them in the Sight of God. They are all condemned by the Law of Innocence, and if they have no better Plea, they will meet with an offended and angry God, in whose Sight no Sinner can stand and find Acceptance. His Law is wise and righteous, and every Violation of it deserves a Proportion of Punishment.
Perhaps they will plead after such a strict Inquiry, that though they have not been perfectly innocent, yet their Offences have not been gross and constant; but only of the smaller kind and few in Number, and therefore they hope for Excuse: But the Apostle James takes away this Hope also, when he tells us, James 2. 8, 10. Whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one Point, he is guilty of all, for by one willful Sin he abuses that Governor and affronts that Authority by which all the Commands are enjoined. Nor is any willful Sin small in the Sight of Divine Justice, for it is the Fruit of a presumptuous Heart, and is therefore highly criminal.
But suppose after their own Review of their Behavior, they should pronounce themselves quite innocent, and say boldly, They knew nothing by themselves; yet they are not sufficiently justified hereby, for God sees the Heart, and he knows us better than we know ourselves. 1 Corinthians 7. 2. and 1 Corinthians 4. 4. Receive us, saith Saint Paul, we have wronged no Man, we have corrupted no Man, we have defrauded no Man; for though I know nothing by myself, that is, nothing of Fraud or Deceit, on willful Injury, yet am I not hereby justified, but he that judgeth me is the Lord. The Eyes of God are a Flame of Fire, and will find Iniquity where I can find none, for he sees all the Disguises and Veils of Self-Love and Self-Flattery, whereby every Man is naturally prone to cover his Sins, and to impose upon himself. He beholds those secret Ferments, those hidden Operations and Motions of Sin in the Soul, which pass by unnoticed to ourselves, and escape the Accusation and Charge of our Consciences. He knows so perfectly all the just Demands of his own Law, in the Lengths and the Breadths thereof, and is so perfectly acquainted with all the Motions of our Hearts, all their Follies and Passions, and sinful Biases, that he can find in us a thousand Contrarieties to his Law, where we are fondly ready to presume upon our own Innocence. Should I say with Job, Chapter 9 verse 30. If I should wash myself in Snow-Water, and make my Hands never so clean, thou wilt plunge me in the Ditch, and my own Clothes would abhor me. that is, If I should use all my own Purifications, thou wilt discover me to be still as greatly defiled with Sin, as one who is plunged into a Ditch, and is unfit to put on his common Raiment, lest he defile that and every thing about him.
Alas, how little do Men believe this? How little do they know and think of their own Guilt in the Sight of God, and the Depth of their own Misery! How are they led by their own Thoughtlessness and shameful Ignorance of themselves to build their Hopes for Eternity on a very sandy Foundation, which will never stand in the Day of that Divine Tempest, which shall try every Man's Work?
You imagine, God will not be so strict a Judge, and so severe, as Preachers represent him; but how do you know that he will not be thus severe in his Inquiries and his Judgment? I am well assured the mere Light of Nature can never assure you of it, nor secure you against this Severity: And the Scripture often represents him thus severe in his Judgment, formed by the Rules of his own Law, and abstracted from the Gospel of his Grace. David knew this in ancient times, Psalm 130. 3. and 143. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark Iniquities; O Lord, who can stand? No Man living shall be justified in thy Sight. All Mankind are Sinners; There is none righteous; no, not one: Every Mouth is stopped, and the whole World lies guilty before God. Romans 3. 19.
2. If we were entirely innocent as to Man, would that be sufficient to answer for all our Injuries and Dishonours done to God? Would this honest and blameless Conduct among your Neighbors, atone for all your Neglects of Religion, and your shameful Forgetfulness of God your Maker? What? Did God send you into this World among sensible things, and give you leave to neglect him, who is the Eternal and Almighty Spirit? Did he form your Spirits within you, and give you Understanding and Reason, and noble Powers to know the God that made you, and never require or expect that you should use them to obtain this Knowledge? Have you a Tongue to speak, and yet never speak to him in Petition or Praise? It is not only Cruelty, or Falsehood, or Injustice to our Neighbors, which the holy Apostle charges Mankind with, in order to lay their Consciences under Guilt and Condemnation, but their Neglects of God and Religion are brought in as a heavy part of the Charge. Romans 3. 11, 17, 18. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God; there is no Fear of God before their Eyes. You hear the Accusations of this Apostle, speaking in the Name of God to Men, to make them sensible of their Guilt and Misery; you have defrauded the great God of his due Glory; you have done him much Injury in withholding from him Worship and Reverence, Fear and Love, Prayer and Praise; and you fall under the Sentence of his broken Law for ever, if you have no better Plea than this.
Under such a Charge Multitudes would be ready to rise up, and with a thoughtless and inconsiderate Pertness would say, Far be it from us to injure our Maker when we would not injure or wrong a Worm: And this is the common Sentiment and Language of Neighbors and Friends when a Man dies, even though he were a Drunkard or a Man of Irreligion. Alas, for him! Poor Man! he has been honest and just; his Soul is at rest, he never did any body an Injury but himself When such Sinners are charged with Neglect of Religion, they cry out as though they were falsely accused, as those Jews do in Malachi 3. 8. When God complains of them, Ye have robbed me, saith the Lord; but they replied with Impudence and Ignorance, Wherein have we robbed or wronged thee?
Alas, Sirs, you are far from Innocence in this Respect; for you have robbed God of your Hearts and best Affections; you have robbed him of your Thoughts and serious Meditations; you have robbed him of your highest Love and chief Delight. Were all the Passions of your Souls and Powers of Nature given you to be employed about the Trifles of this World? Does not God, in the Person of Divine Wisdom, call to Men in the Book of Proverbs, My Son, give me your Heart? And has not the World had these Hearts of yours given up to it entirely? Does not the Light of Nature, as well as our Savior, say, Love the Lord your God with your whole Heart, and your whole Soul, with all your Mind, and all your Strength? And has God had all this share of Love from you?
What time have you ever spent in his Service, in secret Transactions between God and your own Souls? What Seasons have you taken for Prayer to him, or for speaking his Honors? And yet our time is all his: And though he gives us sufficient Portions of time for all our Necessaries and Conveniences of Life, yet have you not robbed God of much of your time in neglecting Religion so entirely as you have done? Have you lived upon the Lord as your Delight and your Life? Have you made him your Hope and your All? Have you daily expected all your Comforts and Blessings from him, and have you returned all the Fruits of your Blessings back again to him in a way of Thankfulness and Obedience? Surely your Consciences must answer, No. Then believe it and be afraid; you have robbed God, you have injured the Almighty, you are far from Innocence, and you must expect to perish with Malefactors, if you have no better Plea than this.
O dismal Change of Apprehensions, when God shall make Creatures, who thought they were innocent, appear abominable in his Sight, guilty of Atheism and Irreligion and high Ungodliness, and shall judge and sentence and punish them as Criminals of a deep Dye, for God was not in all their Thoughts, they lived without God in the World.
Dare not therefore, O Sinners, dare not continue one Day longer in this Practice: Renounce and abandon your false and foolish Hopes: Walk no longer in this vain, this dangerous, this supposed Way of Innocence, for it will never bring you to God and his Favor. Nor go on to think yourself fit for Heaven, because you imagined you had done no wrong on Earth, for upon a serious Search you must be convinced in your Consciences, that you have been evident Transgressors against the Law of God, both in regard of the Duties of Religion and Morality, in what you owe both to God and Man; and Innocence will be found a false and vain Plea at the Bar of God.
But I will go one Step further in making it appear with abundant Evidence, that the Way of pretended Innocence can never bring such Creatures as we are into the Favor of God; and that is, by inquiring of such as call themselves Christians; what is the Use of Christianity, and why was it brought into the World? Surely, if Innocence had been the Way to Heaven, Christ Jesus the Son of God would never have come into Flesh and Blood, that he might die for us; God would never have sent so glorious and divine a Person to have exposed himself to so many Infirmities and Sorrows, Fatigues and Sufferings among the wretched Inhabitants of this our Globe, if we could have been saved in the Way of Innocence. Never would the Son of God have entered our World to have been driven out of this mortal Life again by cruel and bloody Men; nor sustained the Shame, the Pangs and Agonies of the Cross, and a cursed Death. There would have been no new Religion introduced by him; there would have been no Gospel, for there needed none if we are saved by Innocence. The Coming of the Son of God into our World, his painful Circumstances of Life, and his atoning Death at the End of them, sufficiently prove, that the Law of Innocence can never save Mankind.
The Covenant or Law of Innocence was broken by our first Parents; our Natures are corrupted, and this Law or Covenant is forever weak, and unable to bring us to God again. Romans 8:3. What the Law was not able to do in that it was weak through the Flesh, Jesus Christ came to do for us, by coming in the Flesh, and making his Soul an Offering for Sin.
If after all this Representation of Things you are resolved to continue in this way, and seek eternal Life in the way of Innocence, you give a sensible Affront to the Son of God, who came down from Heaven to bring Sinners near to God, and you say in effect, he might have spared his Journey to Earth to show us the Way to Heaven, or to provide a new Way for us, for we have done no Harm to God or Man here in this World, and therefore God will not condemn or hurt us in the other. O my Friends, beg of God to convince you deeply of Sin, and that there is no Hope by all your Pretenses of this Kind.
The second mistaken Way of coming to God is by a mere Dependence on the absolute and sovereign Goodness of his Nature, while you neglect the particular Methods of Salvation which you hear and read he has appointed in the Book of his Grace. It is true, his tender Mercies are over all his Works, and Men imagine this eternal Love to his Creatures will not suffer him to make any of them miserable hereafter, for what they call a little Misconduct here: And while they lessen their own Sins, and enlarge upon his Goodness, they venture their Souls upon an unsafe Foundation, and build up a dangerous and ungrounded Hope. Fancy his Goodness, O Sinners, as large and glorious as you will, and I may venture to affirm it yet larger and more glorious than your Fancy; but if all your Hopes rest here, and you walk onward in this Confidence, you will never see the Face of God with Comfort; nor arrive at his Favor. Remember this is spoken particularly, and only, to those who have known and heard the Gospel of Christ, and yet have neglected to receive it.
Yet how common a Mistake is this, even among those who are called by the Christian Name? Many will confess, We are Sinners indeed, and so are all Men; but God is infinitely merciful, and he will not damn us: Surely he will never condemn so many Millions of Souls; he did not make Mankind to destroy them; his Goodness will not bear to see us eternally miserable, and therefore though we do indulge a little Sin here, we shall not perish forever. Thus that very Sin is committed, which the Apostle warns Men of, Romans 2:4. The Riches of the Goodness and Forbearance and Long-suffering of God which should lead Men to Repentance are abused to indulge and uphold them in Sin. It is a shameful Indignity and Dishonor done to the Goodness of God, to pretend to trust to it for Salvation from Punishment, and yet neglect the Means this very Goodness has appointed to obtain it. But I will endeavor to convince you here, that this is not a sufficient or a safe Way.
1. Infinite Goodness does not save sinning Angels, and why should it save sinning Men? Those noble Creatures, who sinned against God, and left their first Station, are forever damned and miserable, and yet God is forever Good: How largely is his Goodness diffused through all the Heavenly World, and he receives endless Hallelujahs for it; how largely on this Earth, though we often overlook it, and neglect his Praise: But he is not bound to exercise Goodness in Hell too; nor is his Heart to be charged with Hardness, nor his Hand with Shortness, because he will not save those who deserve Destruction.
2. Though the Goodness of God be infinite in its Nature, yet its Exercises are all regulated and limited by Wisdom and Justice; and these are also infinite. Wisdom has joined with Divine Goodness, and saved a Multitude of Sinners; but is it bound to save them all? Or is it obliged to save you? Terrible Majesty, Holiness and consuming Fire are with our God; and among rebellious Creatures, his Wisdom finds proper Seasons and Objects where these must have their Exercise: And if you are Sinners, why should not his just Vengeance be let out upon you? It is a dreadful Word which is written, Isaiah 27:11. This is a People of no Understanding: therefore he that made them will not have Mercy on them, and he that formed them will show them no Favor. Those who are so ignorant of God and his Way of Salvation in the midst of the brightest Means of Knowledge, deserve Destruction from the Almighty, as the Fool who says in his Heart There is no God.
3. There is no Promise in the Gospel made to those that rest on Infinite Goodness, and refuse the Means God has ordained to Salvation, that is, Repentance towards God, and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Goodness, when it is not bound by a Promise, is perfectly free: And, indeed, if it were confined always to act to the utmost of its reach, it were not free, nor divine, nor worthy of God. And where there is no divine Faithfulness engaged to support you by a Promise, a Sinner's Hope in Goodness itself will not be a sufficient and effectual Security.
4. Though the Goodness of God is infinite, yet it does not express itself in all the Ways that it can do in temporal Things, and why must it then be exercised in so unbounded a Manner in Things eternal? If Divine Goodness exerted itself to the utmost in this Life, there would be no Pain, there would be no Sickness among Men, no Heartache, no Sorrow: But you see there is much Sickness, Sorrow and Pain among us, notwithstanding the boundless Goodness of God. There are ten thousand ways for Infinite Goodness to express itself in, besides in Forgiveness of the Sins of Men.
How do you know that God will forgive any one Sinner, or bestow upon him eternal Life? The Light of Nature cannot assure us of it, much less can the Light of Nature inform us, that a God of Infinite Goodness will pardon every Sinner, or save them from the Punishment which is due by his righteous Law. And I am well assured the Scripture gives us no such general Hope: Thousands and Millions will be punished with everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord Jesus, and from the Glory of his Power, notwithstanding his own and his Father's unsearchable Treasures of Grace and Goodness. The Lord is abundant in Goodness, and yet Earth and Hell abound in miserable Creatures.
5. Although you could prove that the Mercy of God will pardon some Sinners, yet how can you be sure it will pardon you? If you were told, that it will save a Million of Transgressors, yet can you ever prove that it will save you? Nay, as highly sovereign as you fancy it to be, you may be still excluded from the Exercise of it; for you may as well imagine this to be one Instance of Sovereignty, to forgive thousands, and yet punish you, if you have nothing else to plead but his mere Goodness. Now it is not wise to venture so important an Interest as that of an Immortal Soul upon any Uncertainty whatsoever, if it can be avoided; and according to your own Principle of Dependence on Sovereign Mercy, you are left at a dreadful Uncertainty, if you have nothing else to trust to but the mere Sovereignty of Divine Goodness.
6. You have over and over again, by repeated Sins, forfeited all Pretenses to the Favor and Mercy of God: Whatsoever Ground you have had to hope in his Goodness, yet you have cut off all those Grounds by your frequent actual Iniquities. Let us enter into Particulars, and survey a little what Claims, what Pretenses you have to trust in this absolute Goodness of God.
(1.) Will you say, You are his Creature, and he is your Maker and Owner, therefore you trust him to save what is his own? But remember that every Sin of yours has disowned his Dominion, violated his Authority, and forfeited his Love and all his kind Regards, as a Creator and Proprietor.
(2.) Will you plead, You have obeyed him, and done much Service for him, and therefore you hope his Goodness will reward you? But have you not done more against him? Surely your Sins are more than your Acts of Piety, and they cancel all pretended Obligations you could hope to lay upon a God: I fear, should all our Virtues and Devotions be put into the Scale against our Vices and Sins, they would be found greatly wanting in the Weight.
(3.) Will you add this Plea, You are in a miserable State, and you trust in his Compassion that he will not leave poor sinful wretched Beings in a State of Misery? But have you not affronted him since your Miseries began, and sinned against him, even in your Bonds? And is not his Compassion thereby utterly forfeited? Besides, might not fallen Angels make the same Plea as you do? Are they not in great Misery? And yet are they not bound in Chains of Darkness, because of their Sins, and shut up to further Vengeance.
O see what an uncertain Foundation your Souls lean upon, when you venture to trust in the mere absolute Mercy of God, and his Goodness, without his, Gospel. It is a Goodness sovereign and absolutely free, and therefore not bound to save such Wretches as you from Misery: It is a Goodness that can see sinning Angels perish for ever, and not help them: It is a Goodness that is regulated in its Exercises, by infinite Wisdom and Righteousness, and the Authority and Justice of a divine Governor, and these must have their proper Exercises too: It is absolute Goodness without a Promise, without Engagement; Goodness that has ten thousand ways to exercise itself besides in forgiving Criminals: It is a Goodness that may forgive ten thousand Sinners, and not forgive you; and it is a Goodness too, that you have so often dishonored, whose Favours you have so shamefully forfeited and abused. Stand and wonder then that it is not turned into Fury against you long ago without Change and without Hope.
Surely since I have a Soul of Immortal Duration, I will strive to have better Rest and Support for it than this is, and never venture it here, since there is a stronger and better Hope. You holy and happy Souls that have learned the new and living Way of coming to the Father, bless him, that he has not left you to seek all your Salvation from absolute and unpromised Goodness: Bless him that has bound his Goodness by many a kind Promise to you in his Gospel, and sealed it with the Blood of his own Son.
We proceed now to consider the third false or mistaken Way of coming into the Favour of God, and that is by Self-Righteousness: For when we are made sensible that none is innocent, and the Goodness of God in general is not sufficient Ground enough to raise and support a solid and assured Hope, then we are ready to offer something of our own to God, to engage this general Goodness of his on our Side, and make our Righteousness the way to procure divine Favour, expecting that God should exercise and express his Goodness towards us, in the Blessings of Pardon and Salvation. This Self-Righteousness may be divided into four Sorts.
1. Penances and Mortifications, Sorrow and Regret of Soul, with all our own fancied Atonements for Sin.
2. Works of Charity to the Poor.
3. Forms of Religious Worship.
4. Outward Reformation with Vows and Labour after better Obedience.
Let us examine each of these briefly.
1. Penances and Mortifications, and our own Remorse of Conscience and Regret of Soul, together with many fancied Atonements for Sin: Thus the Heathens, ancient and modern. What Tortures have some of them inflicted on themselves for the Expiation of their own Sins, or the Sins of their Country? So great and powerful has been their Sense of the Guilt of Sin, that large Sacrifices, and dreadful ones too, have been proposed by some of them for this Purpose, Micah 6:6, 7. Thousands of Rams, and ten thousand Rivers of Oil, and some of them have actually offered their First-born for their Transgression, the Fruit of their Body for the Sin of their Souls.
The Gentiles, when they are a little considerate, one would think, must acknowledge God to be the Governor of the World, and that he is a great and dreadful God, who has, in very visible Instances, sometimes manifested his Displeasure against the Sins of Men, and revealed his Wrath from Heaven against their Unrighteousness and Ungodliness: And under the Fear and Terror of his Vengeance they have sometimes put on Sackcloth and lived in Ashes: They have denied themselves the common Food of Nature, and half famished their Bodies with Abstinence. So the Ninevites did at the Threatening of the Lord by Jonah the Prophet. Sometimes they have banished themselves from Towns and Cities, and all Converse with Men, into mere Deserts and Caves of the Earth, and strained their Limbs in painful Postures, for Years together, to make Atonement for the Sins of the People; so some of the pretended Saints in the East-Indies have done. They have put themselves in Iron Cages, with sharp Spikes, to be carried about and wounded from Head to Foot, as some of the Bonzes in China; they have thrown themselves under a heavy laden Chariot of their huge Images and Idols, and been crushed to Death, as some of their holy Men in Malabar. But what has all this availed to obtain the Favour of that God whom they have offended? Who has required this at their Hands? And what Ground have they to think God will accept it?
So also those of the Roman Church, who are fallen from the Doctrine that Saint Paul once wrote to the Romans, have invented various Penances, and endeavored to come into the Favour of God by them: As though lashing themselves with Cords, could satisfy infinite Justice for their Crimes, and wearing Sackcloth on their Flesh could make their polluted Souls pure and acceptable to God. In following Ages when the Priests were grown more crafty and covetous, they taught them to come to God by Money, and to buy Pardons for Sin and Titles to Heaven of the Pope. This was called a Commutation of Penance, and making their Purse suffer instead of their Flesh; and thus they compounded with the Justice of God for the Sins of their Souls. They lavish away much Silver and Gold, to make Atonement before God for breaking his Law. Poor Attempts and hopeless Pretences, to remove the Displeasure of a God, and make a Way for their favourable Access to him! There have been some austere Persons that have separated themselves from the lawful Customs of the World, and common Comforts of Life, in order to appease their Consciences for past Indulgence and Sensuality, as though God and his Holiness, and his governing Wisdom and Majesty, would be as easily satisfied as their blinded Consciences.
Others again after Sin are terrified with Fears of Death and Destruction; and under these Impressions they seem to mourn for their Sins, and then fly to their Repentances and Tears to save them; though perhaps their Repentance and Regret of Conscience carries no more Hatred of Sin in it than Judas had who hanged himself for inward Vexation and Anguish of Soul.
But if this Repentance were never so sincere, is the great God obliged to pardon such repeated Crimes and Iniquities as ours are, merely because the Criminal repents? Do the Princes of the Earth think it necessary to forgive every Rebel and Traitor, because he is sorry he has been guilty of Treason and exposed himself to Punishment? Why then should the King of Kings be bound to let every Criminal pass without being punished, merely because he repents of his Wickedness? It will be said perhaps, we have nothing better to offer than our Repentance. And what then? Must a poor Rebel be always pardoned because he has nothing to make Satisfaction to his injured Sovereign, besides his own Tears? And yet there are too many who still will hope that their Sins are washed away, and their Guilt atoned for, by their Sorrows and Repentances; and some Christian Divines have expressed themselves a little too grossly and unwarily on this Point.
O let us have a Care of such Mistakes, and bless the Lord, that he has taught us a better Laver than our own Tears, a more powerful Atonement than any of our Sorrows or Terrors. The Pollutions of the Soul by Sin require a better cleansing, and Affronts to the Majesty of Heaven demand a higher Satisfaction or Recompense, than any that we can make with our utmost Efforts of this kind.
2. Others fly to Works of Charity to the Poor, or of supposed Piety towards God, performed either in Life or at Death. Hence arise some extraordinary Appearances of Liberality in the World: This Hope of making some Compensation for Sin, lays the Foundation of Churches and Hospitals: And magnificent Structures arise upon the Earth to gain the Favour of the God of Heaven, who has been provoked by former Iniquities. Whole Estates are sometimes given away by old Sinners, and alienated from their natural Heirs and Possessors, even from needy Friends and Kindred, and are devoted to religious and charitable Uses, in order to purchase Salvation for their Souls.
If they are Protestants indeed, we can hardly suppose they have these actual Reasonings within themselves, as to infer, that God will be so much pleased with these Legacies, as to pardon their Sins for the sake of such a Liberality to the Church or the Poor; this is the Popish Doctrine of Merit, which as Protestants we all renounce. But still there is a secret working of this Self-Righteousness in the Hearts of Multitudes: And when upon a Death-bed they bequeath large Legacies to the Service of God, or the Relief of the Poor, they hope to breathe out their Spirit comfortably into the Hand of God the Father, with some Dependence on these Legacies, at least as sufficient Evidences of their Love to God, and with confident Expectations of obtaining his Salvation.
But alas! what can a little Charity to the Poor do toward the Reconciliation of a God to an offending Creature. Is there any Force in this Reasoning, because I do a Kindness for a Fellow-Worm, therefore my Maker must love me, and forgive me all Affronts against him? Or because I have given to the Service of God, some of those worldly good things which he first bestowed upon me, therefore he must pardon all my former Iniquities, he must receive me for ever into his Favour, and confer upon me the Riches of Glory and the Inheritance of the Saints in Light? How weak and ignorant are these Reasonings? And yet how many have been ready to lay the Stress of their Hopes upon them, having nothing else within their View to trust in?
3. Forms and Observances of religious Worship, are another vain Pillar upon which Sinners lean and support themselves. This is a most common and powerful Deceit. How many thousands are there, that by daily Attendance upon Solemnities of Worship and coming up to the House of God, hope at last to come to the Arms of the Father with Acceptance? And especially if they have practiced secret Devotion too, in the common Rounds and Forms of it, and have frequently bowed their Knees to God in their Retirements, their Hope has risen high; and though they have not arrived at a thorough change of Heart, and sincere Love to God, yet they will presume upon his Acceptance without any great Concern about the Salvation of Jesus Christ.
But let me ask such sort of Candidates for Heaven and Happiness, whether a formal Round of Duties and Services, without the Heart and Soul in them, without sincere Love to God and Delight in him, can so far please the blessed God, as to persuade him to neglect all the righteous Demands of his governing Justice for past Crimes? Or if your Hearts are sometimes engaged in these Solemnities, is this sufficient to cancel all former Transgressions?
Besides, if you have no Mediator, who shall introduce such a Sinner, or his Duties, into the Presence of God with Acceptance? May he not justly drive us with all our solemn Formalities, afar from his Seat, since we neglect the only Hope set before us, that is the Name of his Son, without which no Man shall come to be accepted of the Father. John 14:6. No Man comes to the Father but by me.
4. The last thing I mention, on which some Persons are prone to depend, in order to obtain divine Favour and Forgiveness, is a Course of outward Reformation, and some Vows and some Endeavors after better Obedience: But I would endeavor in these few Particulars, to discover the Vanity of all Hopes of this kind.
(1.) Our duties of obedience are very imperfect. They do not in any degree answer the strict demands of the law and justice of God; and the best of them are so defective that they can never claim or pretend to any merit in them, since they do not come up to answer the requirements of God in his general rule of government.
(2.) Our obedience of today cannot wipe away or cancel the crimes of yesterday or our past life. These crimes stand like high and impassable mountains in the way between God and us. Paying a new debt never wipes off old scores among men, and why should we imagine it will do so before the throne of God?
(3.) Were our duties perfect, yet it is not only a guilty, but a worthless creature, a mere polluted worm performs them; and the eternal favor of an offended God is not to be purchased for rebels at so cheap a rate.
(4.) It is true, it is by duties of worship we must draw near unto God, and by the acts of our mind and will, by knowledge, assent, faith, trust, hope, prayer and repentance, we must come to God; but it is still by and through the mediation and interest of Jesus the Son, that these acts of the soul must be addressed to the Father. These considered alone in themselves, are not prescribed in my text as the way itself, for Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life: He is the only true and living way to God. These actions performed with a due regard to Christ, are properly our walking in the way which God has appointed; but if we have no regard to Christ in these actions, we are not walking in God's way, nor can we raise any solid hope that we shall arrive at his gracious presence, while we neglect or refuse the only way which God has ordained.
Perhaps some more intelligent or more conceited hearers, may cry out here, why are these rudiments and plain principles of Christianity preached to us? Surely we know better, and understand more of the gospel of Christ, than to make such discourses necessary for us to attend them.
I answer, 1. However learned some may be in these truths, yet perhaps there may be others coming continually into our assemblies, who know little enough either of the law or gospel; and they had need of the doctrines of their own guilt, and misery, and danger, to be spoken in very plain and clear language to them, before they will hearken and stand still, and consider their own circumstances, and their peril. And the nature of man when under the awakenings of conscience, is so prone to take hold of every false and feeble refuge, and to venture their eternal hopes upon them, that it is very necessary to speak these things often, and to represent them in the clearest light, in order to caution sinners against building their hopes on the sand, and resting all their expectation of the favor of God and happiness, upon some feeble foundation which will not bear them. It is not the wise and the learned that I pretend to instruct; but it is pity any poor soul, even of the lowest ranks of mankind, should abide ignorant of these important concerns, and should perish in such a land of light, and for want of Christian knowledge.
Answer 2. Let us search diligently our own hearts. Have we all attained and kept up such a due sense of our danger without Christ as we should have? Are we never inclined to depend on self-righteousness at all? Are we never under any temptation to indulge this false hope? Some pious souls have complained of this temptation, and corrupt nature is very ready in the best of Christians, to build up some parts of their own righteousness as their sufficient refuge, and sometimes to put it in place of the perfect mediation and atonement of the blessed Jesus.
Answer 3. However the case be now with us, and if we have truly got the victory over all temptations of this kind, yet it is very proper to remember what once we were, and reflect upon what false hopes we once were ready to build on, and to bless the Holy Spirit of light and grace, that has discovered our mistakes unto us, that has turned our feet from every dangerous hope, and led us to the Father by the true and living way Christ Jesus.
Let this thought also call us to mourn over the souls of men, even the greatest part of our fellow creatures, inhabitants of this world, who are made of the same flesh and blood as we are, and who, through gross ignorance, are ever practicing some foolish methods of pacifying God for past sins, and aiming at his favor and happiness in such ways as will never attain their end. O Come, Lord Jesus, and spread thy light and thy truth through the dark nations, and scatter all the remaining mists and darknesses that lie upon countries which have only the name of Christ, and some of the forms of his religion among them. Thousands there are, even in Europe, who neither know the gospel in truth, nor come to God by this Mediator: They live not by the faith of the Son of God, nor have just reason, according to the gospel, to expect divine favor and forgiveness. Blessed God, enlighten the thousands of dark and wretched mankind, and lead them in thine appointed way to happiness.
The next Essay will show us a plain and easy account of Faith in Christ, or of coming to God by Christ: I acknowledge, I have been sometimes uneasy and ashamed to hear a divine of the Protestant church tell his people, that Faith in Christ is a mysterious thing, and it is not to be well known, or clearly conceived in itself, but it may be much better conceived by its effects, therefore, says he, I proceed, instead of speaking of Faith itself, to give you an account of the Fruits and Effects of it.
As though there was anything in the affairs of human life, in reason, or in religion, clearer than this notion, (namely) Upon a sight and sense of our sins and dangers, and our weakness to help ourselves, to commit ourselves into the hands of Christ, by an humble act of trust or dependence on him, complying with his appointed methods of relief in the gospel.
It is but as a man sensible of his sickness applies himself to a wise and knowing physician, and gives himself up to him, and trusts himself in his hands to relieve him, complying with the remedies appointed in order to his cure: which I hope will appear very plain in the following Essay.