Love to Christ, Chapter 4
CHAP. IV. Ten Properties of the Curſe upon Non-Lovers of Chriſt.
1. TO be Anathema when Maran-atha, will be to be curſed with a dreadful curſe. This is more general, and the following Properties will ſhew it to be ſo dreadful; ſo dreadful, as will make your Joints to tremble, your Knees to knock together, your Faces gather paleneſs; for you will be curſed by God himſelf; and as to be bleſſed by God is the greateſt Bleſſing, ſo to be curſed of God is the ſoreſt Curſe: A great Emphaſis is laid upon thoſe words, where God calls a People, a People of My Curſe, Iſa. 34.5. When the Church prayed againſt her Enemies, it was a ſore Petition; Lam. 3.65. Give them ſorrow of heart, thy curſe unto them. If the Devil ſhould curſe you, yet God may bleſs you; if men ſhould curſe, yet God might bleſs you; as David begged, in Pſal. 109.28. Let them curſe, but bleſs thou. As if he had ſaid, If I have God's bleſſing, I will not fear wicked mens curſings: for when they curſe, God can turn it into a bleſſing; Deut 23.5. Nevertheleſs the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam, but the Lord thy God turned the curſe into a bleſſing unto thee, becauſe the Lord thy God loved thee. The form of the raſh and wicked Speech of ungodly men, much given to curſing, ſhews it to be a dreadful thing to be curſed of God, when they ſay, The Curſe of God fall upon you; The Curſe of God overtake you; they mean the forell, the heavieſt, the greateſt Curſe, by the Curſe of God: but though men might wiſh you ſo accurſed, yet you might be far from it; but if you love not ſincerely the Son of God, then the Curſe of God will overtake you, light, and lie upon you; and then you will be accurſed indeed. Oh now love Chriſt indeed, that you might then eſcape the Curſe indeed, which elſe will be a Curſe indeed; heavy indeed, and indeed intolerable.
2. To be Anathema when Maran-atha, accurſed when the Lord comes, will be to be accurſed totally; all the Sinners ſhall lie under this Curſe; his Body ſhall be curſed, and his Soul ſhall be curſed; as the Curſe in this world falls upon all that belong to the Diſobedient and rebellious: Deut. 28.15. But it ſhall come to paſs, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to obſerve to do all his commandments, and his ſtatutes, which I command thee this day; that all theſe curſes ſhall come upon thee, and overtake thee. 16. Curſed ſhalt thou be in the city, and curſed ſhalt thou be in the field. 17. Curſed ſhall be thy basket, and thy ſtore. 18. Curſed ſhall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land; the increaſe of thy kine, and the flocks of thy ſheep. 19. Curſed ſhalt thou be in thy coming in, and curſed ſhalt thou be when thou goeſt out. So when the Lord comes, thou ſhalt be curſed in all thou art; in thy Body, and all the parts thereof; curſed ſhall be thine Eyes, that were as Windows to let vanity into thy heart; Curſed ſhall be thine Ears, that hearkened to the Enticements of Sinners, but not to the Commands and Calls of God; Curſed ſhall be thy Hands and Feet, that acted wickedly, and carried thee on in ways of Sin: Curſed ſhalt thou be in thy Soul, and in all the Powers and Faculties thereof; Curſed ſhall be thine Ʋnderſtanding, that never was inlightned with the ſaving Knowledge of Jeſus Chriſt. Curſed ſhall be thy Will, that never made choice of him for thy Saviour, and thy Lord. Curſed ſhall be thy Conſcience, that did not effectually ſtir thee up to look after, and to haſten to Jeſus Chriſt. Curſed ſhall be all thine Affections, that thou ſhalt be conſtrained to confeſs that Love that was ſet upon the World, and Sin, which ſhould have been better placed upon Chriſt, was curſed Love. Thoſe Deſires which run out after Vanity, which ſhould have been upon the wing in moving after Chriſt, were curſed Deſires; and thoſe Delights which are fetched from the Creature, and from ſinful Objects, were curſed Delights; and that Hatred, which I had to Chriſt, and his ways, which ſhould have riſen againſt Sin, was curſed Hatred. Thus, as now, where the Love of Chriſt doth not rule in the Heart, Sin is ſpread all over, ſo then the Sinner ſhall be curſed all over.
In this Life Spiritual Curſes upon the Soul are the heavieſt Curſes, as Bleſſings on the Soul are the beſt of Bleſſings. When men will not be perſuaded to love the Lord Jeſus, but will love their Cups, and their Whores, and their Profits and Sporting Pleaſures, better than Chriſt; but after long wooings of Grace, and intreaties of Mercy; after many ſtrivings of the Spirit, and Calls of Conſcience, and waitings of patience, they will love their Sin, and not Chriſt, the World, and not Chriſt; God, and Chriſt, and Holy Spirit, may give them up to theſe vile and curſed Affections, and ſay to them as Chriſt curſed the Fig-tree, on which there was no Fruit, Mark 11.13, 14, 20, 21. Never fruit grow on thee more. Sinner, wilt thou not love me? never Repentance be found in thee; never Pardon be beſtowed on thee. Wilt thou not love me! let him love his Swearing ſtill, let him love his filthy unclean doings ſtill: Let him remain under hardneſs of heart to his dying day. What ſhould I do with him? my Miniſters have begged on him to give me his Love, and he will not; my Spirit hath ſtrived with him, but he will not: What, will he not? not love me! No, then let him love what he will. This is a great Curſe upon the Soul of a Sinner while Chriſt defers his coming. Rev. 22.11. He that is unjuſt, let him be unjuſt ſtill; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy ſtill.— Some have had great Parts, and with them they have not loved Chriſt, and their Parts have withered away, Chriſt hath curſed them. Some have performed many Duties, and were forward Profeſſors, but all this while they prayed, and heard, and received, they loved not Chriſt, and Chriſt hath curſed them, and they are turned prophane. Some are given to Swearing, and Whoring, and Drinking; and it is not only their Sin, but the Curſe of God upon their Souls, that he hath given them over, becauſe they have refuſed to love his Son. Pſal. 81.11. My people would not hearken to my voice; and Iſrael would none of me. 12. So I gave them up unto their own hearts luſt; and they walked in their own counſels. Hoſ. 4.17. Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone. My Spirit let him alone; my Miniſters let him alone; my Ordinances let him alone; Conſcience let him alone; let all let him alone; he is ſtubborn, wilful, and perverſe; his heart is joined to his Profits, and to his Pleaſures; Let him alone, let him take his courſe, and walk in the fooliſh imagination of his owne vil heart: An heavy Curſe in this life.
But when Maran-atha, the Lord comes, theſe Curſes on the Soul ſhall be ſetled, fixed, never removed. This was the man that never loved me; now, let him never repent, except it be with a vain, empty, ſelf-tormenting Repentance: Now, let him be without Holineſs for ever, and without Love to me for ever.
3. To be Anathema, when Maran-atha, ſhall be to be curſed with a bitter Curſe, without any ingredient of the leaſt Bleſſing, to allay or mitigate the bitterneſs of it: Then ſhall he have ſorrow without joy, mourning without mirth, darkneſs without light, pain without eaſe, miſery without mercy, all evil without the leaſt good, and all this without end, and therefore without hope; this Cup of Curſing, becauſe it ſhall be ſo pure without mixture, ſhall be ſo exceeding, ſo inconceivably bitter. Rev. 14.10. The ſame ſhall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture, into the cup of his indignation, and he ſhall be tormented with fire and brimſtone, in the preſence of his holy angels, and in the preſence of the Lamb. 11. And the ſmoke of their torment aſcendeth up for ever and ever; and they have no reſt day nor night.— A bitter Cup, a bitter Curſe; more bitter than the water of Jealouſie that cauſed the Curſe, which a woman drank that had given her love to another man, and had treſpaſſed againſt her husband; the Water was bitter Water, and the Curſe a bitter Curſe; for it made her belly to ſwell, and her thigh to rot, and ſhe was a curſe among the people, Numb. 5.27. This bitter Curſe at the coming of Chriſt, ſhall come into thy bowels like water, and like oil into thy bones; it ſhall be unto thee as the garment which covereth thee, and for a girdle wherewith thou ſhalt be girded continually, Pſal. 109.18, 19. It ſhall imbitter thy thoughts, thy ſoul; thy very being, and make thee cry out, Oh this is a bitter place! this is a bitter ſtate, a bitter condition, exceeding bitter! My loving of the World, and Sin, was not ſo ſweet, as this is bitter: That ſeemed to me once as ſweet as Honey, but this is more bitter than Gall. But here is my Wo, which makes it ſtill more bitter, the ſweet is gone, and the bitter remains; the ſweet will never return, and the bitter will never be gone. I did put bitter for ſweet, and ſweet for bitter; but now I cannot: The bitter is ſo bitter, that I cannot put it for ſweet, nor imagine it to be ſo. Oh I never thought the ſweet delight I took in what I loved, would have brought upon me this bitter Curſe, or me to theſe bitter Torments!
4. To be Anathema when Maran-atha, will be to be accurſed publickly and openly before all the world; to be accurſed before bleſſed Angels, and curſed Devils; to be accurſed before the bleſſed Saints, and other curſed men. Thou didſt openly declare thy love of Pleaſures, thou didſt openly follow ſuch courſes, that all might ſee are inconſiſtent with ſincere love to Chriſt, and thou ſhalt be openly accurſed. Or though thou didſt openly pray, and publickly hear, and profeſs the ways of Chriſt, but didſt ſecretly in thy heart love ſomething elſe more than Chriſt, yet for thy ſecret hypocriſie thou ſhalt be publickly accurſed.
Before the greateſt Congregation that ever eyes beheld; before a greater number than ever yet at once were gathered together, even before Millions of Angels, before all that ſhall be found alive at Chriſt's coming; and all that have been dead, that ſhall then be made alive, even all People, of all Nations, and before them ſhalt thou ſtand, and be declared a curſed wretch, becauſe thou didſt never love the Bleſſed Son of God. What ſhame ſhall then confound thee, and what confuſion ſhall then cover thy face, when thou that thoughteſt thy ſelf a bleſſed man, and others thought thee to be bleſſed, that thou and they were quite miſtaken! When Chriſt before them all ſhall pronounce a ſentence upon thee, whereby thou art publiſhed to be accurſed, and commanded with all the Plagues and Curſes of God upon thy ſoul and body, to depart into everlaſting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, Mat. 25.41.
5. To be Anathema when Maran-atha, is to be curſed Poſitively; ſentenced down to poſitive pains, to real politive torments; ſo great, ſo grievous, ſo many, ſo extreme, continual, and univerſal, that ſhall wring out a confeſſion from thee, Now I am accurſed indeed. To lye in theſe flames that cannot be quenched, to burn in this fire in which I cannot be conſumed, is ſuch a Curſe, ſo intolerable, that will make thee curſe the day in which thou waſt born, and curſe the time thou ever livedſt in this world, becauſe not better improved, to eſcape that Curſe thou lieſt under in that world. When thou ſhalt cry out, and roar, Wo is me, poor miſerable wretch! I am tormented in this place, and cannot have one drop of water to refreſh and cool my parched tongue! Wo is me, poor curſed Caitiff! I am in pain, in pain, in extremity of pain, and here is no eaſe! alas! here is no eaſe! I toſs and tumble in this bed of flames, and cannot reſt! If I wander from one ſide of Hell unto another, I cannot find one corner where I might have a little reſt! O curſed creature, that I loved not Chriſt! If I had loved Chriſt as much above the world, as I loved the world above Chriſt, I might have been among the bleſſed Saints, and not in the midſt of ſuch a curſed Crew! Had I loved Chriſt ſo much more than Sin, as I loved Sin more than Chriſt, I might have been a bleſſed one; but becauſe I did not, O curſed Caitiff, that I did not! I am now this curſed Caitiff! Who can be in theſe Torments, and not acknowledge the Curſes of the Lord have overtaken him? Who can feel what is here to be endured; and yet who can endure to feel it, which yet in feeling muſt be endured, and not reckon himſelf as curſed as curs'd can be? This I was told, for want of Love to Chriſt, would be my curſed ſtate; the Lord is come, and now for want of Love, it is my curſed ſtate. I was told, If I love not Chriſt, I ſhould be Anathema when Maran-atha; I did not love Chriſt, and now Maranatha, and I am Anathema.
6. To be Anathema when Maran-atha, will be to be curſed privatively; with the loſs of God, of Chriſt, of Heaven, of the ſociety of Saints and Angels, and of all the joys and happineſs that God hath prepared for them that love him; ſhall then be openly caſt out of God's Favour. You caſt off Chriſt, and that is your ſin, and Chriſt will caſt you off, and that will be your Curſe. The love of your heart is not towards Chriſt, and that is your Sin; and God's Face and Favour ſhall not be towards you, and that will be your Curſe. Can he be bleſſed that loſeth God, that is our bleſſedneſs? Muſt not he be curſed that lies under the puniſhment of curſed Devils? Now you love not Chriſt, and yet you will be confident that you ſhall eſcape Hell, and obtain Heaven, and be bleſſed: But if you continue without Love to Chriſt, you will be ſhut out of Heaven; and where then? Do you know of any other place (whatever Papiſts dream) but Hell? and when out of Heaven, and in Hell, what a poor Bleſſedneſs will your groundleſs confidence bring you to.
7. To be Anathema when Maran-atha, will be to be finally accurſed. While Chriſt doth tarry, if you are not in a good and bleſſed ſtate one day, you might be another: Tho laſt Lord's-day you were in a miſerable condition, yet this you may (and oh! that you might) be tranſlated into a better: If not this, if you live till the next, you may be then; tho you ſhould deſire to get out of a curſed dangerous condition this day, before the next, for this day is yours, the next might be none of yours. But when Chriſt ſhall come, that will be the laſt day, and there ſhall not be a next: Therefore to be accurſed that day, will be to be ſent away with a Curſe upon your Souls, without any ſucceſſion of a Bleſſing.
When Chriſt was upon the earth, the laſt act he did relating to his Diſciples, was an act of Love, his Valedictory act was an act of Benediction, Luk. 24.50. And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lift up his hands and bleſſed them. 51. And it came to paſs, that while he bleſſed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into Heaven. And when Chriſt ſhall come again, the laſt act relating to them that love him not, ſhall be an Act of Juſtice, and Vengeance, and Wrath; and his Valedictory act, an act of Malediction; and after this, no act of Mercy, of Love, or Favour to them, therefore ſhall be finally accurſed.
8. To be Anathema when Maran-atha, will be to be accurſed without an appeal to any higher Court, or ſuperior Judge, for ſuch none is. If it were the laſt thing that Chriſt would do to them, yet if they could remove their Cauſe, and have an Hearing in another Court, and before another Judge, they might hope the Curſe may be repealed, the Sentence whereby they are declared accurſed, might be changed, and their ſad condition altered for the better; but this cannot be, for all Judgment is committed to the Son, John 5.22. And all men muſt ſtand or fall, live or dye, be damned or ſaved, according to the Sentence that Chriſt ſhall paſs upon them. 2 Cor. 5.10. For we muſt all appear before the judgment-ſeat of Chriſt, that every one might receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. And in the deſcription of the Proceſs of the day of Judgment, we find, without appeal to any other, the Execution ſhall certainly follow; and thoſe whom Jeſus ſhall pronounce bleſſed, ſhall go into Eternal Life; and thoſe whom he ſhall declare accurſed, ſhall go into Everlaſting Puniſhment. Mat. 25.43: Come ye bleſſed of my Father—. Verſ. 41. Depart from me, ye curſed—. Verſ. 46. And theſe ſhall go away into overlaſting puniſhment, but the righteous into life eternal.
9. Therefore to be Anathema when Maran-atha, will be to be accurſed with an irrevocable Curſe. Tho they ſhould cry, call, beg for a Bleſſing, with greater importunity than Eſau did, who cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and ſaid unto his Father, Bleſs me, even me alſo, O my father, Gen. 27.34. Yet the Lord Jeſus at that day will be inexorable, not to be intreated; but as Iſaac ſaid concerning Jacob, I have bleſſed him, and he ſhall be bleſſed; ſo Jeſus ſhall ſay concerning them that loved him, I have bleſſed them, and they ſhall be bleſſed; and to them that hated him, I have curſed you, and ye ſhall be curſed. So much we learn from Luk. 13.25. When once the maſter of the houſe is riſen up, and hath ſhut to the door, and ye begin to ſtand without, and to knock, ſaying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he ſhall anſwer and ſay unto you, I know you not whence ye are. 26. Then ſhall ye begin to ſay, We have eaten and drank in thy preſence, and thou haſt taught in our ſtreets. 27. But he ſhall ſay, I tell you I know, not whence ye are, depart from me all ye workers of iniquity. Mat. 7.22. Many will ſay to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have not we propheſied in thy name? and in thy name have caſt out devils? and in thy name have done many wonderful works? 23. And then will I profeſs unto them, I never knew you; Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Chriſt in theſe Scriptures ſpeaks of many who ſhall find the door ſhut, themſelves excluded, ſhall be importunate for admiſſion into a ſtate of Everlaſting Bleſſedneſs, by knocking, calling, Lord, Lord, Open to us: But Chriſt doth diſown them, and denieth their requeſt. They plead their prophecying, their hearing, their eating and drinking in his preſence, caſting out of Devils, and doing many wonderful works in his Name: But Chriſt replies; All this you did, but you did not love me, and ye were not lovers of me, for ye were workers of iniquity; and a Lover of Chriſt, and a Worker of Iniquity, (as this Phraſe is uſed in Scripture) a man cannot be at the ſame time: So that ſuch as ſhall then be ſo curſed as to be ſhut out of doors, are paſt recovery, paſt hopes of Mercy, paſt a poſſibility of being bleſſed. And therefore
10. To be Anathema when Maran-atha, will be to be accurſed with an Eternal Curſe: For be they muſt for ever; dye they cannot; ſhake off the Curſe they cannot; therefore curſed they muſt be for ever. For a man to be accurſed all his days, would be a ſore judgment; but for a man to be accurſed to all Eternity, is beyond conception heavy and grievous. To live for ever, and to be accurſed for ever, is worſe than never to have been, or to have their being turned into nothing.
All the Curſes that men, void of the Love of Chriſt, do lye under in this world, they make light of. If they are caſt out of God's Favour, it is a great Curſe; but now they are merry under it: If they have no Grace, it is a great Curſe; but they do account it no Curſe; they have none, and they deſire none: But there are Curſes waiting for them, and ſhall be poured out upon them at the coming of Chriſt, which in the other world ſhall be heavy indeed, and intolerable; and under them ſhall have a merry heart no more for ever. For to be Anathema when Maran-atha, Is to be Curſed
Dreadfully, becauſe
Totally,
Bitterly,
Publickly,
Poſitively,
Privatively,
Finally. Therefore
Uncontroulably. Therefore
Irrevocably. Therefore
Eternally.