The Natural Mans Case, Part 1 · Sermon 13
SERMON, XIII.
EPHES. 2. 12.
—Having no hope—
WEE come now to enquire further, what is the reaſon that wicked men doe nouriſh in their hearts moſt hopes for heaven, ſeeing the Scripture ſayes they have none: the laſt time I anſwered this Queſtion, by naming three falſe props, that they build hopes for heaven upon; I ſhall now give you three or four more.
4. Another falſe prop that wicked men build hopes for heaven upon is this; their frequency in the performances of religious duties; and thus they reaſon with themſelves; Shall I uſe duties, all the dayes of my life, as my way to heaven, and ſhall I not hope for heaven at my journeys end? though a wicked man does notionally hope for heaven through Chriſt, yet he layes the chiefeſt foundation of his hopes in his own good works; as Chriſt ſayes, in the laſt day they ſhal come to him & cry, Lord, Lord, open to us, for we have propheſied in thy name, and eat and drunk in thy preſence, we have heard thy word, and done many miracles, and caſt out Devils in thy name, and the like; they ſhall boaſt of their hearing, and praying, and good workes, and make that a plea for heaven, when Chriſt ſhal ſay unto them, Depart from me, I know you not. Now I ſhall ſhew you the rottenneſſe and in ſufficiency of this prop to build hopes for heaven upon; but I would not have you miſtake me, as if I went about to beat down good workes, and make duties uſeleſſe; for I would have you ſo to perform duties, as if you were to be ſaved by duties, but when you have done all that you can doe, to lay them down at the feet of Chriſt, and wholly depend upon him, as if we had done no duties at all; but if you make the bare performance of duties, to be a prop for your hopes of heaven, it will be a very rotten and deceitfull prop, as I ſhall ſhew you in theſe four particulars: For,
1. All performance of duties not tendered to God the Father by Jeſus Chriſt; will not be accepted by him; that were it poſſible you ſhould kneel ſo long in prayer to God, as that you ſhould wear out your knees; were it poſſible that you ſhould cry out your eyes with weeping, and by mourning and lamenting for your ſins, you ſhould dry up all the moiſture of your body; were it poſſible you ſhould ſpend all the dayes of your life in hearing, reading, praying, and the performance of holy duties; yet if you doe not offer them up to God in the name and mediation of Jeſus Chriſt, they are all but like cyphers that amount to no ſum at all, unleſſe the righteouſneſſe of Chriſt be added to them: it is Chriſts righteouſneſſe that makes our ſervices acceptable to God; Chriſt addes his incenſe to the prayers of all his Saints: now (beloved) though you make never ſo many prayers, yet if you have no ſhare in Chriſt, nor in his ſufferings, and prayers, and interceſſions to God for thee, all thy prayers and holy duties are worth nothing, they will never bring thee to heaven; our perſons muſt be in Chriſt, before our ſervices can be accepted of God, and therefore the bare performance of duties, can be no prop to thee for to build hopes for heaven upon.
2. Theſe things can be no prop of thy hopes for heaven, becauſe hypocrites, whoſe perſons and performances God doth hate, they are frequent in duties as well as you: the Phariſees they did faſt twice a week, and give almes, and perform holy duties, and ſo thoſe ſpoken of in Iſa. 58. 2, 3.the Prophet Eſay, They did delight to draw near to God, and to know his wayes, as a nation that did righteouſneſſe, and for ſook not the Ordinances of God: wherefore have we faſted, ſay they, and thou ſeeſt not? God did not accept of any thing they did: and ſo thoſe in Zac. they kept four faſting dayes in a year for Zach. 8. 19.ſeven yeares together, and yet they ſaid he did not regard them: and ſo likewiſe God doth not regard the prayer of the wicked, as in Pſal. 105. 9. The prayer of the wicked is Pſal. 105. 9an abomination to the Lord; and ſo is their hearing too, for they come to hear when their hearts are after their covetouſneſſe.
3. Know thus much, that thoſe very duties which God does accept at the hands of his children, thoſe very duties will he reject at the hands of wicked men, and therefore the bare performance of duty can be no prop to build hopes for heaven upon; for though thou ſpendeſt longer time in prayer, & more time in hearing reading, faſting, &c. then a godly man does, yet the Lord will accept of his duties and not of thine. I ſhall give you three inſtances for this; the firſt is between Cain and Abel: Abel he offered the firſtlings of his ſheep, and cattle and of his flock, and Cain he offered Gen. 4.the firſt-fruites of his ground; now by faith Abel offered a more excellent offering then Cain, Heb. 11.though Cains offering was of more value then Abels was yet Abels was accepted, when the others was not; Abels ſacrifice was accepted not in regard of the quantity, and worth, and value of it, but becauſe Abel was a beleever, and a juſtified man in the fight of God, and therefore he had reſpect firſt to his perſon, and then to his ſacrifice. Another inſtance is in 1 King. 18. 25. between 1 King. 18. 25.Elijah the Prophet, and the Prophets of Baal; Elijah the Prophet tooke two Bullocks, and bid the Prophets of Baal to chuſe one, and you muſt think they would not chuſe the worſt of them, and he took the other, and yet the Lord ſhewed a token of acceptance to Elijah and his ſacrifice, though it was the worſt of the Bullocks, and ſhewed no acceptance to the Prophets of Baal, and the reaſon of it was becauſe Elijah was a juſtified man in the ſight of God, when the others were not. And ſo again in Prov. 15. 8. it is ſaid Prov. 15. 8.there, that the ſacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the wright is his delight: God doth delight in a poore pennileſſe prayer coming from a godly man, when he will not accept of a coſtly ſacrifice coming from a wicked man.
4. The bare performance of duties can be no prop to build hopes for heaven upon, becauſe God doth not look ſo much upon the matter of the duty what you do perform, as to the manner how, and the end why you doe perform them, though it may be the duty which you perform be the ſame for the matter of them, as God requires and commands, yet if they be not done in a right manner, God lookes upon it as nothing; God will not own thoſe duties as done to him, that are not done in a right manner, and to a right end: as in Joh. 16. 24. Hitherto (ſayes Chriſt) you have asked nothing in my name, aske and receive that your joy may be full; and yet they had put up many petitions in his name, but becauſe they did it not in a right manner, Chriſt lookt upon it as if they had asked nothing at all.
5. Another falſe prop that wicked men build hopes of heaven upon, is a meere miſtake of the promiſes and pillar of hope in Scripture; and this is done two wayes: either,
1. They make thoſe promiſes to be props of hope which are not: or,
2. They doe miſapply thoſe promiſes that are true grounds of hope.
1. They make thoſe to be props of hope which are not; I ſhall name you three of them, the firſt is that paſſage in our common Liturgy, At what time ſoever a Ezek. 18.ſinner doth repent from the bottome of his heart, I will blot out all his ſins out of my remembrance (ſaith the Lord). This very ſentence hath been a means to delude a world of men, whereas indeed it is no ground at all to build hopes for heaven upon: for,
1. There are no ſuch words as theſe to be found in the whole Scripture: and,
2. The place where theſe words are found, it is onelyonly in the common Liturgie, which Liturgie is but an abſtract of the Popiſh Maſſe, for though all that is in the Popiſh Maſſe be not in the Common-Prayer, yet all that is in the Common-Prayer is in the Popiſh Maſſe; it may be you will ſcarſe beleeve this, but it is very true, as you may ſee, if you look into the ſecond volume of the Book of Martyrs the 667. page, where there is a Letter inſerted of King Edward the ſixth, ſent to the Papiſts in Cornwall, who were riſen up in armes about the tranſlating of the Maſſe into Englſh, which they would by no meanes agree to, but roſe up to oppoſe it; King Edward to pacifie them, wrote to them on this manner, As for the Service-booke, the tranſlating of it may ſeem to you to be ſome new thing, but they are the very ſame words in Engliſh which were before in Latine, and if the Maſſe book which is in Latine be good, then it is as good now, though it be tranſlated into Engliſh.
3. You will ſay the Lord himſelf ſaid theſe words, At what time a ſinner doth repent I will blot all his ſins out of my remembrance, (ſaith the Lord). I anſwer, that it is not ſaid ſo in the whole Book of God, and if you look into that Text of Scripture which they ground theſe words upon, that the Lord did ſay ſo, you ſhall finde it otherwiſe; it is in Ezek. 18. 21. mark the words, theſe are Gods words indeed; If a wicked man will turn from all the ſins that he hath committed, and keep all my ſtatutes, and doe that which is lawful and right, he ſhal ſurely live, and not dye. They ſay if a wicked man does repent of his ſins; now repentance is a generall work, Judas did repent, but his repentance did him no good; but here you ſee it is ſaid that if a wicked man turn from all his evill wayes, and do that which is lawfull and right, then he ſhall ſurely live.
2. Another Scripture-prop which wicked men build their hopes for heaven upon, but is indeed no prop, is this, that the righteous man ſinneth ſeven times a day; this is one of the greateſt props a wicked man hath, ſayes he, what doe you tell me of my ſins, the beſt men have their failings, the righteous ſin ſeven times a day, and why may not I goe to heaven as well as they? wicked men make this a great prop to their hopes, when indeed there is no place of Scripture like this in the whole Bible; that which comes neareſt to it, is in Prov. 24. 16. A juſt man falleth ſeven times and riſeth Prov. 24. 16.again, but the wicked fall into miſchief: now here is no mention of falling into ſin in the text, nor no mention of a day; but only thus, a juſt man falleth ſeven times, and riſeth again: St. Auſtin gives this ſenſe of the word; a godly man falleth ſeven times, that is often times, expounding this place with that in Job 5. 19. The Lord Job 5. 19.will be with thee in ſix troubles, and in ſeven there ſhall no evill touch thee: A righteous man, ſayes Auguſtine, falleth ſeven times, not ſinneth, ſeven times, he doth not fall into ſin, but into affliction; the righteous falleth ſeven times, that is, the godly in this world are liable to fall ſeven times into affliction, that is, very often into afflictions and troubles while he lives here in this world; according to that of Job, In ſix troubles and in ſeven the Lord ſhall deliver thee, meaning oftentimes: and therefore this place carries no reference at all of falling into ſin ſeven times a day.
2. Suppoſe it were ſo, that the righteous did ſin ſeven times a day, yet the text ſayes in the next words, that as often as he falleth he riſeth again; now it may be, many of you that make this a prop for your hopes of heaven, doe fall into ſin day after day, and never riſe out of them again by repentance: you leave out theſe words, and riſeth again, for many of you live your whole lives long in an evill courſe, you wallow and lye down in ſin, and therefore this can be no prop for your hopes.
3. Another ſentence which they make a Scripture prop, but is not, is this, that Chriſt died for all and for every man in the world; This comes within the Arminian bounds, but this opinion is taken up by others too as well as them, that hold univerſall Redemption; but becauſe I have already preached two or three Sermons upon this ſubject, I ſhall therefore onelyonly now ſpeak ſo much as is needfull, to ſhew you the rottenneſſe and inſufficiency of this prop; 1. Suppoſe Chriſt did dye for all, yet thoſe men that are of this opinion, that Chriſt did dye for all, they doe not hold that all men are ſaved by Chriſt, but ſome men may fall off from Chriſt; and be damned, notwithſtanding Chriſt dyed for them.
2. Take this by way of anſwer, that it is not likely that they ſhould have benefit by Chriſts bloud, that have no benefit by this death.
3. To you that make this a plea for your hopes of heaven; obſerve this, that where there are theſe generall expreſſions, they are very ill underſtood: if you ſay they ſpeak of univerſal & generall redemption, as in 2 Cor. 5. 14, 15. Becauſe we thus judge, 2 Cor. 5. 14, 15.that if one died for all, then are all dead, and he died for all, that they that live ſhould not henceforth live unto themſelves, but unto him that died for them and roſe again; why, here none can lay claim to Chriſts death, but thoſe that live to Chriſt that died for them: and ſo in Heb. 2. 9. But we ſee Jeſus that was made a little lower then the Angels, for the ſuffering of death, cloathed with glory and honour, that hee by the grace of God ſhould taſte death for every man; but mark the reſtraint in the next words; For it became him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many ſons unto glory (here the Apoſtle reſtrains the words) to make the captain of their ſalvation perfect through ſufferings; for both he that ſanctifieth, and they that are ſanctified are all one, for which cauſe he is not aſhamed to call them brethren: the Apoſtle does here again reſtrain the words, and therefore this can be no more prop for your hopes, that are not ſanctified; but thus much may ſuffice for the firſt branch, in ſhewing you how wicked men doe make thoſe places to be Scripture props for their hopes which are not.
2. If they do not make thoſe places to be Scripture props which are not, yet they doe miſapply thoſe places, which indeed are Scripture promiſes and grounds of hope; as that Chriſt came into Mat. 18. 11.the World to ſave ſinners; now this is a Scripture promiſe, for Chriſt came to ſeek and ſave them that were loſt: but now Luk. 19. 10.(beloved) men doe miſapply this generall pillar of hope; they take them in the generall notions of them, and this makes abundance of people to harbour great hopes of heaven in their hearts: but now I ſhall ſhew you, wherein they doe miſapply them.
1. In not conſidering that a man muſt be firſt in Chriſt, before he can lay claim to any promiſe of Chriſt. They run to the promiſe, and never examine firſt whether or no they have an intereſt in Chriſt.
The promiſe is good and comfortable, but it cannot convey any comfort to thy ſoul, unleſſe thou art in Jeſus Chriſt, no more then a dry pipe can convey water to thee without the fountain: we are firſt made Chriſts, and then we have a right to all the promiſes of Chriſt: it is by our intereſt in Chriſt, that we have a right and title to all the promiſes of God in Chriſt. If you have an intereſt in Chriſt, you have all the promiſes as it were bound up in a bundle, which you may have recourſe to, and make uſe of when you will.
2. They object and ſay, that the promiſes doe run in free and generall termes having no conditions annext to them.
Anſw. It is true, there are ſome promiſes that are abſolute, ſo as to have no condition, going before them, but every promiſe in the Goſpell hath ſome condition or other annext to it, if it hath not a condition going before it as meritorious; yet it hath a condition that followes after it, … in Gen. 17. 1. I am thy God all ſufficient, Gen. 17. 1.(what then?) walk before me and be thou perfect. In 2 Cor. 6. 16, 18. I will be their God, 2 Cor. 6. 16, 18.and they ſhall be my people: and I will be a father unto you, and ye ſhall be my ſons and daughters, ſaith the Lord God Almighty: what followes? why in the 1. verſe of the next chapter, ſaies the Apoſtle there, Having 2 Cor. 7. 1.therefore theſe promiſes (dearly beloved) let us cleanſe our ſelves from all filthineſſe both of the fleſh and ſpirit, perfecting holineſſe in the fear of God. So in Heb. 5. 9. Chriſt came into the Heb. 5. 9.world to ſave ſinners, but there is a condition goes after it, he that ſanctifieth, and they that are ſanctified, muſt be all one: There is no promiſe in all the Goſpell, but that a condition is prefixt, or annext to it: in Mat. 11. 28. ſaies Chriſt, Come unto me Mat. 11. 28.all you that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you reſt: there is a foregoing condition, we muſt come unto Chriſt: and other promiſes have conditions going after, as I could inſtance divers, but theſe ſhall ſuffice.
There are two props more behind, they are but very ſhort ones; I ſhall goe over one of them now, becauſe I would not be hindreed in my afternoons work, in ſhewing you the difference between thoſe that have a reall and well grounded hope, and thoſe that have only a falſe and deluding hope.
6. Another falſe prop that wicked men build hopes for heaven on is this, becauſe they live honeſtly and juſtly among their neighbours, they give every man his due, and do no body any wrong, and the like, and therefore they conclude themſelves in a very good condition.
Anſ. Were this a ſufficient ground for Anſw. 1.hope for heaven, there would more of the heathens goe to heaven, then of you; for they walk very exactly, and are juſt and upright in all their dealings. But wicked and bad men may have very good meanings in them, as wee may ſee in Balaam, Numb. 23. 10. he deſired to die the death of the righteous, and that his last end might be like his: this was a good deſire and meaning in him.
2. Take this for an anſwer, that though a bad meaning will defile and pollute a good action, yet a good meaning cannot advantage nor doe a bad action any good: as the Scribes and Phariſees, they performed very good actions in themſelves, but they had ſelf-ends, and bad meanings that ſpoiled all their duties; good meanings cannot juſtifie bad actions. If thy actions be wicked, good meaning can do thee no good: Rom. 8. Thoſe that ſay, Let us doe evill that good may come of it, their damnation is juſt.
3. Let your meaning be never ſo good, yet if you have an ignorant minde, it is worth nothing, as in Prov. 19. 2. The minde without knowledge cannot be good; as no man ever became rich by meaning and purpoſing to be rich, but by labouring and endeavouring after it, ſo no man ever went to heaven by good meanings without good actions accompanying them.
2. But ſay they, we do no body any harm, but pay every man his own.
Anſ. 1. Though you pay every man his Anſw. 1.own, yet do you give God his own? or rather do you not wrong God, and do him infinite indignities?
2. Though you do not do man wrong, yet doe you not your own ſouls wrong? as we uſe to ſay of free-hearted men, they are enemies to no man but themſelves: So now do not you doe your own ſouls wrong by harbouring of boſome luſts and corruptions in your ſouls? What benefit will it be to thee, that you do no body elſe wrong, when you doe your own ſouls wrong? you are no better then the Phariſees, for they were very exact in giving every man his due; the proud Phariſee could boaſt in Luk. 18. 11. I am no extortioner nor unjuſt man: you may mean well and give every man his own, and yet be a wicked man.