The Substance of Christian Religion, Lecture 4
The Fourth Lords Day.
Ephes. 5. 6.
Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience.
IN these words is contained an argument, whereby the Apostle labours to perswade all the faithfull, that they may keep themselves from those sinnes, whereof he had made mention a little before. The Argument is drawn from an adjunct, that follows upon sin, to wit, the wrath of God, of which sinnes are not onelyonly the antecedents, but also meritory causes, certainly procuring it, as is intimated in these words; For these things: The connexion of this effect with its cause, is limited and confirmed.
1. It is limited by a description of the subject, wherein Gods wrath doth alway pursue sin, in these words; upon the children of disobedience.
2. It is confirmed by rejecting of all vain shifts, in these words; Let no man deceive you.
The Explication, by the wrath of God. 1. Is understood Gods vindicative justice. 2. His will to inflict punishment according to that justice. 3. The punishment it self, that is so inflicted. And in this place most properly the punishment is understood, which in other places is often called death, distress, severities, hot anger, and the like. This wrath of God, is said to come against, or upon men, because as it were coming down from Heaven, it suddenly fals upon and overwhelms, and holds as intangled in a net the sinners; so that by no means they can escape it. In the same sense, that not unlike phrase is used, Rom. 1. 18. by the expression of the children of contumacie or stubbornness, upon whom this wrath comes, those sinners are understood, which can by no means be perswaded to leave their sins and seek God by true faith and repentance; where this is to be marked, that foreign may be turned both children of incredulity, and children of disobedience; but it agrees better to this place, to be turned children of disobedience and of rebellion; because we read not this phrase, the children of saith, but of obedience, 1 Pet. 1. 14.
Doct. 1. Such mens condition is most desperate, because they are not onelyonly sinners, but also stubborn in their sins.
Its gathered out of these words; Upon the children of disobedience or stubbornnesse: So they are named here, as men, whose condition is much to be abhorred, and whose example and company is most to be shunned, as appears from vers. 7. be not therefore partakers, &c.
Reas. 1. Because such men serve a most miserable servitude to a very base Master, that is, to sin: for sin exercises a spiritual Kingly power and dominion over them, because they do all that the lusts of sin commands them; and can by no means be perswaded to shake off that slavish yoke; and so much the lesse, as they perceive that slavery, by so much are they the more fully under its command, because by this means it comes to passe, that their very will it selfe, and the spirit of their minde is possessed by this slavery and oppressed: For as a brute or a man that comes neer to a brute, serving some cruell Master, takes no thought for that his condition, because of his stupidity; neither cares nor wishes for a better; is a more full and perfect slave, than some free-born and free-minded man, who is by force constrained to serve one, but yet under such servitude and force, keeps a free minde▪ even so it fares in this matter.
Reas. 2. Because such men are furthest off from repentance, and so from the kingdome of God, and from salvation: For repentance doth most consist in the turning of the heart from sin to God, by perswasion of the Word and holy Spirit: And to this temper the obstinacy and unperswasibleness of such men, is flat opposite; who are not onelyonly not perswaded to turn to God, but are perswaded to the contrary; that such perswasion of converting is not to be embraced or regarded; for such are properly called the children of rebellion or disobedience. As therefore those diseases are most mortal, which admit of no cure, and are but the more exasperated, the more they are dealt with; even so also is it with such kinde of men.
Reas. 3. Because these men do most grievously encrease their guilt in this, that they withstand the means, that God hath sanctified for procuring their salvation: For while they will not suffer themselves to be perswaded to that conversion unto Faith and Repentance, they directly fight against God, and not onelyonly so, but in this very thing, that he would, and is some way striving, as it were, to save them.
Use Of Adm…nition; That most of all we be carefull of this stubbornnesse or rebellion, which is not onelyonly to be understood in common of that con…umacy, whereby men refuse altogether to be converted; but also specially, and in every part of obedience: For if we perceive that God calls us to this or that special duty, tis then our part mainly to take care, that even in that, we present our hearts to God flexible and perswasible whereunto we are invited.
Doct. 2. Upon the children of disobedience, certainly and unevitably the horrible wrath of God comes. This is clear in the Text without any collection made from it.
That this wrath is horrible, and altogether intolerable, the Scripture every were testifies, as Heb. 10. 27. Apoc. 6. 16, 17. and elswhere. And the thing it self doth sufficiently shew it, if we consider Gods anger as to its intensness, extensness and duration; as to its intensnesse, it is called in Scripture a consuming fire, Heb. 12. 29. Now this fire of the wrath of God consumes not lightly, or light things onelyonly as in the superficies, but as it is said, Deutro. 32. 22. Gods wrath set on fire will burn down to the grave, &c. Nah…m 1. 6. Where there is a most likely & pithy description. By all which descriptions is signified, that the wrath of God doth throughly peirce not onelyonly into the body, but into the soul and inward part of the spirit, for which reason in many places of Scripture, it is compared unto sharpe arrows peircing into the heart its self, and consuming the spirit and life. As to the extension; this wrath of God contains in it all sort of evils, whether corporal or spiritual; whether in this life, or at the end of it, and in death, or at death. …ither belong those catalogues or inventories of curses, that are found Deutr. 28. and Levit. 26. 3. As to the duration, it remaineth upon impe…ient sinners, Iohn▪ 3. 36. not for some short space, but unto all eternity, and without end: For as that obligation, whereby we are bound to render God all obedienees without end; so consequently the transgression whereby sinners break that obligation, is in a manner infinite & without end: so also the punishment, which taketh away its measure from the nature of the transgression, will be without end & infinite, and that as wel in the privation of an infinite good, as in the endles duration of this privation or losse. Neither ought it to seem strange, that for a sin, which is committed in a short time, an endlesse punishment should be inflicted; because equity its …elf requires this, that every one should be deprived of that good, of which by his own fault he hath turned from. But every …inner hath turn'd himself away from an endless good, by a fault he can never come out of by himself, and make an end of; and therefore it is but reason, that he be endlesly deprived of that good. And moreover, because he hath disturbed that order that God set & appointed; it is but ju…tice if he never be freed from the punishment of this fault, untill he have repaired God his honor; which an unrepenting sinner can never do unto eternity.
It ought not therefore to move any, that sin, which is but momentary, should be punished eternally.
Reas. 1. The committing of it, is as it were a spiritual wounding; and yet a wounding, in what …ort time soever done, doth often leave behinde it a wound of long duration, and often endlesse and eternal death.
Reas. 2. The committing of sin, is as it were a spiritual fall, or sliding: and yet the fall in short time passed, may be such, that thereby for a very long time, or without end, the party may remain in the depth or pit, whereinto he fell.
Reas. 3. The committing of sin, is as it were a …ying with bands or thongs; whose nature is, that it may quickly be done, and yet for ever keep the party bound, as long as the bands themselves remain unloosed, or unbroken.
Reas. 4. Tis as it were a bargain, in which the sinner for the enjoyment or use of some short pleasure, out of a madnesse sells himself into slavery.
Now from a bargain of buying and selling, though passed in a short time, the right is conveyed to the buyer for ever; and the alienation is eternal or endlesse in its own way.
Reason 1. It is as it were the putting out of a lamp; for a sinner once drowning himself in the …ilth of sin, puts out as it were the whole light of his mind; and a lamp once put out, though it be done in a moment, yet by vertue of that putting out, remains of its self endlesly extinct and put out.
Use 1. Of Condemnation, against such as remain in their carnal security and please themselves in this condition, over which perpetually hangs the so horrible wrath and anger of God.
Use 2. Is of Admonition, that with all care above all things else we go about this, to shew this wrath of God, Matt. 3. 7. where also the way to shun it, is shewed to be by repentance, verse 8. And yet this is not so to be taken, as if this shunning lay in our repentance, as it is our action, and as if that had some vircue of freeing from the wrath of God; for Christ alone is our enfranchizer from the wrath to come, 1 Thess. 1. 10. We therefore truly flee from the wrath of God, when we flie to this mercy in Christ Jesus by true faith in him, and repentance unfained.
Doct. 3. All such speeches as promise impunity of sin, and indempnity from the wrath of God, are but vain and seducing.
This is also cleare in the Text. Now that they are vain, hence it appeareth, because they are against his decree, and his will clearly revealed; and therefore can have no solid truth in them. And that they are seducing, is apparent enough also from the first author of such speeches. For the devill, when he would seduce our first Parents, promised them this impunity in these words; Ye shall not dye.