The Natural Mans Case, Part 1 · Sermon 2
SERMON, II.
EPHES. 2. 12.
That at that time ye were without Chriſt,—
WE come now to the body and bulk of the words, That at that time ye were without Chriſt, from whence note,
Doctr. That every man during the time of his unregeneracy, is in a condition without Jeſus Chriſt.
My Beloved, if I ſhould tell you now that when you come home, you ſhould have never a bit of bread to put in your mouths, that all your ſubſiſtence and livelihood ſhould be taken away, that you ſhould be heirs of never a foot of Land, and that you ſhould have nothing at all to live upon, you would count this a hard caſe, but I tel you my Brethren, that to be without Jeſus Chriſt is a far worſe caſe, it is the ſaddeſt and miſerableſt thing in the world to be without Jeſus Chriſt: when I tell you, that you are without Chriſt, I tell you the ſaddeſt News in the World; but before I can bring home this Doctrine to you, there is one Objection and one Queſtion, that I muſt ſpend a little time in anſwering, the Objection is this:
Object. Object. How can it be ſaid of theſe Epheſians here that were elected, that before their converſion they were without Jeſus Chriſt, for they were choſen of God in Chriſt Epheſ. 1. 4.before the world was made, and therefore how can the Apoſtle ſay that when they were born they were without Jeſus Chriſt, ſeeing they were choſen in Chriſt before the beginning of the world?
Anſw. I anſwer, That the ſame man in a different ſenſe may be ſaid both to be in Chriſt and out of Chriſt; it is true the Apoſtle ſayes in the firſt, that they were choſen in Chriſt before the world was.
1 If you reſpect the eternall decree and determination of God, ſo they were in Chriſt, for God did purpoſe to make Jeſus Chriſt a Mediatour between God and man, by whoſe bloud they ſhould be ſaved.
2 Though they were in Chriſt in regard of Gods decree, yet they were without Chriſt in regard of the application of the bloud of Chriſt to their ſouls: for till a man hath Faith, he can make no application of the love of God to him, for he that hath not the ſpirit of Chriſt, he is none of his, though they were in Chriſt in regard of the eternall decree of God, yet they were without Chriſt in regard of the actuall application of the love of God to them; for they could not apply to their own ſouls that Chriſt did love them and own them as his children, till they were brought into a converted eſtate.
I come now to the queſtion which I promiſed to reſolve, which is this:
Queſt. What it is to be without Chriſt.
Anſw. I anſwer it concludes in it theſe three things; 1 To be without the ſaving knowledge of Chriſt; 2 To be without any actuall intereſt in Chriſt; and 3 to be without any ſpirituall communion with Chriſt.
Now if you ask me which of theſe is chiefly here meant, that theſe Epheſians were without; I anſwer the two former, for they were both without the true knowledge of Chriſt; and alſo without any actuall intereſt in Chriſt.
1. To be without Chriſt is to be without the ſaving knowledge of Jeſus Chriſt: though a man during his unconverted eſtate, may gather together a great deal of notionall knowledge, yet the Scripture doth lay him under this condition, that he is a man without Chriſt. Now a man may be ſaid to be without the knowledge of Chriſt in theſe 5 particulars.
1 A man may have a common knowledge of Chriſt, and yet be without a ſpirituall knowledge of Chriſt, he may have a naturall knowledge by the works of God, by hearing, reading, or the like, and yet be without a ſpirituall knowledge, to know Chriſt in a ſpirituall manner.
2 A man may have a notionall, and yet be without an experimentall knowledge of Chriſt; and hence it is that the Scripture expreſſeth the difference between the knowledge of the righteous and of the wicked man; the Lord plants wiſdome in the ſecret parts of his children, but in the outward parts, in the head and in the brain of wicked men, God makes his Children to know Chriſt in the inward parts.
3 An unregenerate man may have a contemplative, and yet be without an affective knowledge of Jeſus Chriſt; wicked men may have a ſpeculative knowledge of Chriſt, they may know Chriſt as a man knowes his neighbour, but now a beleever knowes Chriſt as a wife knowes her Husband, a beleever knows Chriſt and he loves Chriſt too, an unregenerate man he may have much light, but he has but little heat in his knowledge, he may grow much in a contemplative, but not in an affective knowledge, he knows what he ſhould doe, but he will not doe what he knows. A wicked mans knowledge is like the Moon, it hath light with it but no heat, but a godly mans knowledge is like the Sun, that hath heat as well as light, a Beleever loves Chriſt as well as he knows him.
4 An unregenerate man he is without an appropriating knowledge of Chriſt, he doth not know Chriſt to be his Chriſt, there are none that do know Chriſt to be theirs but thoſe that do belong to Chriſt, now in this ſenſe, a man may be a great knowing man, and yet not know Jeſus Chriſt.
5 And laſtly, an unregenerate man, he is without a practicall knowledge of Jeſus Chriſt; they know much but do but little, as in Tit. 1 16. In their words they Tit. 1. 16.profeſſe to know him, but in their works they deny him, though they know God, yet they glorifie him not as God, they know many things, but will do nothing: Now put all theſe together, wherein an unregenerate man is without the knowledge of Chriſt, he is without a ſpiritual, and experimentall knowledg, without an affective, and apprehenſive knowledg, & without an appropriating and practicall knowledge of Chriſt.
2 To be without Chriſt implies not only to be without a ſaving knowledge of Chriſt, but alſo to be without an actuall intereſt in Chriſt, that at that time you were without Christ, that is, during the time of your unconverted eſtate, you were without any reall actuall intereſt in Chriſt; from whence obſerve,
Doctr. That every man during the time of his unregeneracy, is without any actuall interest in Chriſt.
In the handling of this point, I ſhall onelyonly do theſe three things.
1 I ſhall ſhew you the propertles of a man without Chriſt;
2 I ſhall ſhew you the characters of a man without Chriſt; And
3 I ſhall ſhew you the miſery of a man without Chriſt: and then come to the Uſes.
1 I ſhall ſhew you the properties of a man without Chriſt: and in treating of Eight properties of a man without Chriſt.this ſubject, I wiſh from my ſoul that if I cannot allure you, yet that I might affright you, and throughly awaken you, to ſee the indiſpenſable need that you have of getting an intereſt in Jeſus Chriſt; and here I ſhall diſcover to you eight particular properties of a man without Chriſt.
1 Every man without Jeſus Chriſt he is a baſe man.
2 He is a bondman:
3 He is a beggerly man:
4 He is a blinde man:
5 He is a deformed man:
6 He is a diſconſolate man:
7 He is a dead man; and
8 He is a damn'd man.
Theſe are the eight properties of a man without Jeſus Christ: 1 Every man without Jeſus Chriſt is a baſe man; though thou art born of the bloud of Nobles, and though thou art of the off-ſpring of Princes, yet if thou haſt not the Royall bloud of Jeſus Chriſt running in thy veins, thou art a baſe man. In Dan. 11. 21. and in Pſal. 15. 4. in both thoſe places you read of vile perſons; ſuch is every man without Chriſt: and he muſt needs be ſo, becauſe it is only Chriſt that can take off that baſeneſſe wherein every one is by nature; as in Eſa. 43. 4. ſayes God, Since thou wer't precious in mine eyes, thou becameſt honourable, and in 1 Pet. 2. 7. Unto you which believe Chriſt is precious, it is Jeſus Chriſt, that puts a Diamond of honour and glory upon men, they are all baſe men that are out of Jeſus Chriſt, and that in theſe three reſpects:
1 They come from a baſe originall;
2 They commit baſe actions; And
3 They aime at baſe ends.
For the 1. every man that is out of Chriſt he comes from a baſe originall, he hath not his origination from the Spirit, but from the Fleſh, he proceeds not from God who is the Father of Lights, but from the Devill who is the Prince of Darkneſſe.
2 He is baſe becauſe he commits baſe actions, all the actions and ſervices of a Chriſtleſſe man, at the beſt are but as filthy Iſa. 64. 6.rags, and dead works. A man in his unconverted eſtate, he is the ſlave and drudge of the Devill, a worker of wickedneſſe, ſtill fulfilling the deſires of the fleſh and of the minde, being given over to vile affections.
3 He is a baſe man without Chriſt, becauſe he aims at baſe ends in whatſoever he does; and that two wayes, 1 In this world he aims at baſe ends in his hearing, reading, praying, and profeſſion of Religion, he mindes himſelf and his own ends in all: And 2 all his actions tend to baſe ends in another world; as the actions of a man in Chriſt tend to Salvation, ſo the actions of a Chriſtleſſe man tend to damnation.
2 A man without Chriſt is not only a baſe man, but a bondman; this Chriſt tels us of in John 8. 36. If the Son make you free, Joh. 8. 36.then are you free indeed, intimating, that if you have an intereſt in Chriſt to free you from the ſlavery of ſin and Satan, you are ſlaves indeed: this bondage and ſlavery likewiſe conſiſts in three particulars: 1 they are ſlaves to ſin; 2 to the Devill; and 3 to the Law.
1 Every Chriſtleſſe man he is a ſlave 1. Joh. 8. 34.to ſin; in Joh. 8. 34. ſayes Chriſt there, Verily I ſay unto you, whoſoever committeth ſin, is the ſervant of ſin, and in 2 Pet. 2. 19. 2 Pet. 2. 19.While they promiſe them liberty, the themſelves are ſervants of corruption, for of whom a man is overcome, of the ſame he is brought in bondage. Every man by nature is a ſlave to his luſts, and a ſlave to ſin, and to the creatures; God made man Lord over all the creatures, but man hath made himſelf ſervant to all the creatures.
2 He is not only in bondage and ſlavery to ſin, but to the devill too, as in 2 Tim. 2. the two laſt verſes, ſayes the Apoſtle, 2 Tim. 2.in meekneſſe inſtructing thoſe that oppoſe themſelves, if God peradventure will give them repentance, to the acknowledging of the truth, that they may recover themſelves out of the ſnare of the Devill, who are taken captive by him at his will.
3 He is in bondage to the Law, that is, he does nothing in obedience to the Law; and this is the great miſery of a man without Chriſt, he is bound to keep the whole Law of God: there is a very ſtrange expreſſion in Rev. 18. 13. Saint John tels Rev. 18. 13.there that all thoſe that did worſhip the Beaſt, ſhall cry woe and alas, for Babylon is fallen, and ſhall cry for the ſlaves and ſouls of men: all wicked men are ſlaves to Antichriſt, to ſin and to the Law, and this is the great miſery of an unregenerate man.
3 Thou art not only a baſe and a bond man, but a beggerly man too without Jeſus Chriſt; for all the treaſures of grace and mercy are hid and locked up in Chriſt as in a common Magazine or Storehouſe: Col. 2. 3. In him are hid all the treaſures of wiſedome and knowledge; if you are out of Chriſt you have nothing, as Rev. 4. 17. Thou ſayeſt Rev. 4. 17.thou art rich and increast in goods, and hast need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art poor, and wretched, and miſerable, and blind, and naked; you will grant that he is a poor and beggerly man, that wants theſe four things, meat for his belly, cloathes for his back, money for his purſe, and a houſe to put his head in, why in all theſe reſpects every man that is out of Chriſt is a beggerly man.
1 A beggerly man is one that hath no meat to put in his belly, and all you that have no intereſt in Jeſus Christ are beggerly, in this regard, becauſe you do not feed upon that bread of life, nor drink of that water of life, the Lord Christ, whoſe fleſh is meat indeed, and whoſe bloud is drink Joh. 6. 55.indeed, without which your ſoules will ſtarve for hunger.
2 You will ſay he is a poor man, that hath no cloathes to put on his back: thus every man out of Christ is not only poor but naked; Rev. 3. 17. Thou kneweſt not that thou wer't poor and miſerable, and blinde and naked, that man that is not cloathed with the long Robes of Ceriſts righteouſneſſe, he is a naked man and expoſed to the wrath and vengeance of Almighty God, thoſe men have only a cloak to cover their ſinfull nakedneſſe and ſhame, that are cloathed with the robes of Chriſts righteouſneſſe. It is ſaid of Jacob, that he Gen. 27.obtained the bleſſing from his Father by being clad in the garments of his eldeſt brother, and ſo are we only bleſſed by God our Father, as we are cloathed with the robes of our elder brother Jeſus Chriſt.
3. That man is a beggerly man that hath no money in his purſe; why ſo, though your purſes be full of Gold, yet if your hearts be not full of Grace, you are very beggerly men, Luk 16. 11. Grace is only the true riches; all the durable riches are bound up in Chriſt.
4. And laſtly, he is a beggerly man, that hath not a houſe to put his head in, that is deſtitute of a houſe to lodge in, and a bed to lie on; why ſo, thou that haſt no intereſt in Chriſt, when thy dayes are expired and death comes, thou knoweſt not what to do, nor whither to go, thou canſt not ſay with the godly man that when death takes thee hence thou ſhalt be received into everlaſting habitations, you cannot ſay … Chriſt is gone before to prepare a place for thee in heaven: So that in theſe four particulars you ſee, that a Chriſtleſſe man is a very beggerly man, having neither food for his body, nor cloathes for his back, nor money in his purſe, nor a houſe to put his head in, unleſſe it be in a dungeon of darkneſſe, with Devils and damned ſpirits.
4. Another property of a man without 4. Rev. 3. 17.Chriſt is, that he is a blinde man: Rev. 3. 17. and knewest not that thou art wretched, and miſerable, and poor, and blinde, and naked and hence it is, that wicked men during their unregeneracy are called darkneſſe, in Epheſ. 5. 8. You were ſometime darkneſſe, but Epheſ. 5. 8.now are you like in the Lord, walk as children of the light: So light is come into the world, Joh. 3. 19.and yet men love larkneſſe rather then light, becauſe their deeds are evil. Jeſus Chriſt is to the ſoul that which the ſon is to the earth, take away the Sun from the earth, and it is nothing but a dungeon of darkneſſe: ſo take away Chriſt from the Soul and it is nothing but a dungeon of the Devill; though there be a Chriſt in the world, yet if the heart be ſhut, and Jeſus Chriſt be not in thee, thou art in a ſtate of darkneſſe and blindeneſſe.
5 Every man without Chriſt, is a deformed man, as you may read in Ezek. 16. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, and 14. verſes, Thus Ezek. 16. 3, 4, &c.ſaith the Lord God, thy Nativity is in the land of Canaan, thy Father was an Amorite, &c. and in the 6. verſ. When I paſſed by thee, and ſaw thee polluted in thine own blood, I ſaid unto thee (when thou waſt in thy bloud) Live, yea I ſaid unto thee when thou waſt in thy bloud, Live; when a poor childe lies weltring it its bloud, not ſwadled, nor waſhed, nor looked after, what a ſad condition is it in? and thus were you ſayes God; but then read on in the 7. verſe, I have cauſed thee to multiply as the bud of the Field, and thou haſt encreaſed and waxen great, &c. and ſo again in the 14. verſe, Thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty; for it was perfect through my comlineſſe that I had put upon thee, ſaith the Lord, Intimating that before Chriſt looks upon a ſoul, he lies weltring in his own bloud, and not able to help himſelf, but when he becoms comely through Chriſts comlineſſe that is caſt upon him; if you want Chriſt, you want your beſt ornament: a man without Chriſt is like a body full of ſores and botches, he is like a dark houſe without light, and like a body without a head, and ſuch a man muſt needs be a deformed man.
6. Another property of a Chriſtleſſe man is that he is a diſconſolate man, Chriſt is the only ſpring of comfort, and the fountain of all joy and conſolation, take away Chriſt from the Soul, and it is all one, as if you did take away the Sun from the firmament; if a man hath all the bleſſings in the world, yet if he want Chriſt, he wants that which ſhould ſweeten all the reſt of his comforts. In Exod. 15. 23. 25. you read there of the waters of Marah, they were ſo bitter, that none could drink of them, but then the Lord ſhewed Moſes a tree, which when he had caſt into the waters, the waters were made ſweet; why Jeſus Chriſt he is this tree, that ſweetens the bitterneſſe of any outward affliction, and he can make all thy ſorrowes to flee away; there is nothing in the world that ſweetens the comforts, and gives us joy, in the poſſeſſion of the things of this world, more then the having an intereſt in Jeſus Chriſt: it is not (Beloved) the having of much of the creature in your houſe; but the having of Chriſt in your hearts, that makes you live comfortably; all the bread you eat will be but bread of ſorrow, if you do not feed upon the body of Jeſus Chriſt, and all your drink will be but wine of aſtoniſhment, if you do not drink of the bloud of Jeſus Chriſt; without an intereſt in Chriſt, al your comforts are but croſſes, and al your mercies are but miſeries, as in Job 20. Job 20 2222. In the fulneſſe of his ſufficiency he ſhall be in ſtraits, though you have abundance of the things of this life, though you have more then enough, yet if you have not an intereſt in Chriſt, you have nothing.
7. Another property of a man out of Chriſt is, that he is a dead man. You know that common place in 1 Joh. 5. 12. He that Ioh. 5. 12.hath the Son he hath life, and he that hath not the Son he hath not life, hence we read in Eph. 2. 1. that unregenerate men are dead in Epheſ. 2. 1.treſpaſſes and ſins, and the reaſon is, becauſe that Chriſt is a Beleevers life: Col. 3. 3. Col. 3. 3.Our life is hid with Chriſt in God, take away Chriſt from a man and you take away his life, and take away life from a man and he is a dead lump of fleſh; unregenerate men are termed ſtrangers to the life of godlineſſe, and therefore muſt needs be dead in their ſins; though they do injoy the life of a man, yet if the life that he lives be not by the Faith of the Son of God, he is ſpiritually dead: As for example, you know a dead man he feels nothing, do what you will to him, he does not feel it; ſo a man that is ſpiritually dead, he does not feel the weight of his ſins, though they are a heavie burden preſſing him down into the pit of Hell, he is a ſtranger to the life of godlineſſe, and paſt feeling, given over to a reprobate ſenſe, ſo that he feels not the weight and burden of all his ſins.
2. A dead man he hath a title to nothing here in this life, though he were never ſo rich, yet he loſeth his title to all, and his riches goes from him to another; why ſo, being ſpiritually dead, you can lay claim to nothing, neither to grace, nor mercy, heaven or happineſſe by Jeſus Chriſt.
3. A dead man is ſtill rotting and returning to the duſt from whence he came; and ſo a man that is ſpiritually dead he fals from iniquity to iniquity, and from one ſinne to another, till at laſt he drops down into Hell fire.
8. The laſt property of a Chriſtleſſe man is, that he is a damned man, if he live and dye without Chriſt hee is a damned man. So Joh. 3. 18. He that beleeveth Ioh. 3. 18.not, he is condemned already, he is as ſurely damn'd as if he were in hell already, he that is without Jeſus Chriſt, muſt needs goe without Heaven, for Heaven and Glory and happineſſe are entailed upon him; Heaven is given to none, but thoſe that are heirs together with Chriſt, and therefore you that are without Chriſt muſt needs be without heaven, and conſequently without happineſſe and ſalvation, and therefore muſt needs be damn'd. So that you ſee in theſe eight particular properties, in what a ſad and miſerable condition every Chriſtleſſe man is in, and oh! that what has been now declared concerning the wretchedneſſe of a Chriſtleſſe man, might provoke every ſoul of you to a holy eagerneſſe and earneſtneſſe of ſpirit, above all your gettings to labour to get Jeſus Chriſt.