The Unspeakable Gift of God, Sermon
Dr. Colman's SERMON ON THE Unſpeakable Gift.
February 1. 1739.
THE Unſpeakable Gift of GOD; A right Charitable and Bountiful Spirit TO THE Poor and Needy Members OF JESUS CHRIST. A SERMON Preached at the publick Lecture in Boſton, February 1. 1739.
By Benjamin Colman, D. D.
Prov. xxii. 9. He that hath a bountiful Eye ſhall be bleſſed, for he giveth of his Bread to the Poor.
Rom. v. 17. They which receive Abundance of Grace and of the Gift of Righteouſneſs, ſhall reign in Life by Jeſus Chriſt.
BOSTON: Printed by J. DRAPER for H. FOSTER in Cornhil. 1739.
THE Unſpeakable Gift.
II. CORINTHIANS, ix. 15.
Thanks be to GOD for his unſpeakable Gift.
THANKS is the leaſt that can be render'd for any Gift; and unſpeakable Thanks the leaſt for a Gift that is unſpeakable. Let us conſider the particular Gift here ſpoken of, and the Honour here done it, the Glory put upon it.
Some would have it to mean CHRIST Himſelf, who is indeed the greateſt Gift of God to fallen Man, ineffable, inconceivable. John iv. 10. If thou kneweſt the Gift of God! Eph. iii. 8. What is the Height and Depth, and Length and Breadth of the Love of Chriſt, which paſſeth Knowledge.
Some ſay Grace, the regenerating Grace of God; or (which is the ſame) the HOLY SPIRIT of God in all his ſaving Gifts, Graces and Comforts: And indeed all the Fruits of the Spirit (a)Gal. v. 22.are unſpeakable Gifts, "Love, Peace, Joy, Longſuffering, Goodneſs, Meekneſs, &c. My Context (b)Ver. 8.ſpeaks of this Gift, "God is able to make ALL GRACE to abound to you, that ye always having an Alſufficiency in all things, may abound to every good Work.
But after all, The Grace and the Gift by Grace here ſpoken of, is neither more nor leſs than the particular Grace of Charity and Liberality to the Poor and Needy; an enlarged Heart and open Hand to relieve and ſupply them in their Wants and Neceſſities. — The whole Chapter is on this ſingle Subject and Argument, touching Miniſtring to the Saints, v. 1. as a Maſter of Bounty, v. 5. ſowing bountifully, v. 7. giving to the Poor, v. 9 ſupplying the Wants of Saints, v. 12. liberal Diſtribution to all Men: This is the exceeding Grace and unſpeakable Gift, for which Thanks is here given to God.
And great is the Honour and Glory done it, in the Epithet UNSPEAKABLE, and in the THANKSGIVING to God for it.
"Who can by ſearching find out GOD, or any Gift of His, unto Perfection? Who can ſhew forth all his Praiſe? All is comprehended in the one Word LOVE. Yet my Text means not to dignify a Spirit of Liberality above the other Exerciſes of Grace, ſave only as the Greateſt of all is Charity (c)1 Cor. xiii. 13., which is but perfected at Death and abides for ever, when Faith and Hope are ſwallow'd up in Viſion. Nevertheleſs it muſt be added, that Love in this particular Mode and Miniſtration, of which my Text ſpeaks, will ſoon fail; for there are no Objects of Charity in Heaven, none poor or needy there: However, Benevolence, the Soul and Eſſence of Charity, reigns there in Glory for ever and ever.
Bleſſed be GOD that we have ſomething and ſo much of it on Earth, in our Way to Heaven: "Thanks to Him for it, ſays my Text. The Glory is God's, for it is his Gift, & this is the Glory of the Gift that it is his; this makes it the unſpeakable thing it is: Divine, Heavenly, Infinite, in its Origine, Influence and endleſs Effects.
GOD is the free and bountiful Author of this Grace in any, He gives it to Thoſe that have it; the Ability and the Heart to do kind and liberal Things is from Him; He puts it into the Heart, and he enlarges it. "Even Power to eat our Bread is from Him, how much more to give of it to others, to ſeven and alſo to eight (d)Eccle. iii. 13. xi. 2..
The liberal Man is God's Gift to the World; to the Place where he lives, to diſtant Places alſo, if he have a Hand full and ſtrong eno' to ſcatter far and near. Some in the Churches of Macedonia were thus made to differ and excel: God miniſtred ſeed to them and they ſowed plentifully; God curiched them unto all Bountifulneſs, and the Thankſgiving was abundant to God.
The Praiſe is not to the charitable Perſon, who deviſes the liberal Things, but to God who gives him the Heart. The good Man will be far from taking any of the Praiſe to himſelf, but to God's Name he gives the Glory. "It is not in me, ſaid the Princely Joſeph, when Pharaoh asked him of the unſpeakable Gift he heard was in him; "God ſhall give Pharaob an Anſwer of Peace (e)Gen. xli. 38.: He honour'd himſelf the more in the Sight of Pharaob and his Princes by aſſuming nothing to himſelf; "Can we find ſuch a Man as this (ſaid the King) in whom the Spirit of God is? for as much as God hath ſhewed thee all this, there is none ſo diſcreet and wiſe as Thou art.
We muſt have a great Care not to idoliſe thoſe whom God pleaſes to honour, by ſacrificing to them inſtead of God, who alone is to be worſhip'd. Yet the Man who is God's Hand, and his Gift, comes in for a civil Honour and Reſpect, a grateful Acknowledgment of his own Goodwill in ſhewing the Kindneſſes of God: of which our Context is full, For to their Power and beyond they were willing of themſelves, praying us to receive the Gift and take on us the Fellowſhip; Wherefore ſhew before the Churches the Proof of your Love, and of our boaſting on your behalf; for I know the Forwardneſs of your Mind, and your Zeal has provoked many: As it is written, He has diſpers'd abroad, he has given to the Poor, his Righteouſneſs endureth for ever, his Horn ſhall be exalted with Honour (f)Pſalm cxii. 9.While by the Experiment of this Miniſtration they glorify God for your profeſſed Subjection to the Goſpel; longing after you for the exceeding Grace of God in you.
Having thus ſet my Text in its true and beſt Light, I ſhall endeavour to ſpeak to this Doctrine from it,
"That a right charitable and liberal Frame of Spirit to the poor and needy is an unſpeakable Gift of God; for which great Thankfulneſs is due to his glorious Name, and abundant Thankſgiving ſhould be fervently render'd in the Churches of the Saints."
I am therefore to ſhew,
1. What we are to underſtand by a right charitable and liberal Spirit?
2. That it is an unſpeakable Gift of God.
3. The abundant Thankſgivings to be render'd for it in the Churches of Chriſt.
I. By a right charitable and liberal Spirit, I underſtand a Mind and Heart prone and large, free and ready in Proportion to our Ability and the Occaſions occurring to us, to pity and relieve the Wants of the Poor, more eſpecially of the virtuous and religious Poor.
It is the religious Exerciſe of the Grace of Charity, which we are to preach to you from the Goſpel of Chriſt; and my Context confines me to this Conſideration of it, "as the Grace of God beſtowed on the Churches, and the Fellowſhip of miniſtring to the Saints. So that a Principle of Grace in the Heart, and the Exerciſe of it in the Life, are here ſuppoſed: That is to ſay, a giving to the poor and needy from Faith in Chriſt and his Word, from Love to Him and his People, upon the Commandment and Promiſes of the Goſpel; in Obedience to the one, and Hope in the other.
It is not therefore meerly a humane, tender, generous natural Temper, or acquired Diſpoſition towards a neceſſitous or compaſſionable Object; and yet this is a diſtinguiſhing Gift of Providence to ſome more than others, which renders 'em more lovely and of a ſuperior Spirit; but we muſt ſuppoſe a Soul of this Diſpoſition ſanctified, and acting upon religious Principles and Motives; or one of another Diſpoſition changed by the Power of Divine Grace into this; and then what rais'd and enobled Souls do the one and other become? all their Things being done with Charity! from a reigning Love to God and Goodneſs as ſuch, as there is Opportunity unto all Men, but eſpecially unto the Houſhold of Faith, proving their Love before the Churches.
In this Caſe a ſpecial Exerciſe of proper Evangelical Faith with Love is ſuppoſed, as in the Frame of Spirit, ſo in the choſen Objects, poor Saints and Members of Jeſus Chriſt, for His ſake, and as unto Him, and as He will accept and reward another Day; "Ye did it unto Me. This is Chriſt form'd in us, his Spirit ruling in us, a new Nature given to us, acting in new Manner, on new Principles, Ends and Motives; ſuch as the meer natural Man perceives not, in equal or greater Benefactions; a Sacrifice holy and acceptable to God.
It is eaſy to the Power of God and worthy of his Mercy, ſo to change the Heart of the naturally Niggard & grudging, into this Riches of Benignity and Beneficence, whereof there ſeem to have been many Inſtances in the firſt Days of the Goſpel, upon the pouring out of the Spirit; when the Multitude of them that believed were of one Heart and Soul; neither ſaid any of them, that ought of the things they poſſeſſed were their own, but they bad all things common, Acts iv. ult. An extraordinary Spirit of Love, at an extraordinary Time and Occaſion! a wonderful Effuſion of the HOLY GHOST, from the late crucified and aſcended JESUS. The like therefore has not been known in ordinary Times, nor is it the ſtanding Exerciſe of the Spirit in the ſanctified. But the Want of what ſhould be common among Chriſtians at all Times, is a ſad and dark Teſtimony of the Poverty of Grace; for there certainly are among us People of high Profeſſion, who have no Heart to do almoſt any thing at all, in a way of Diſtribution to the Poor, or for pious Uſes; no not a known Inſtance for Years together; while God is liberally giving to them, and they can lay up and lay out and make Purchaſes! but if you ſpeak of giving, they hide themſelves from their own Fleſh, even tho' they be eſteemed Members of Chriſt alſo.
Let us always ſee to it, that our Principle and End be right before God, genuine and truly Chriſtian; that neither Vanity, Affectation or Oſtentation, nor yet meer Humanity and good Nature, be paſs'd on God for gracious Charity, on Whom it cannot; nor yet on Men, nor on our ſelves, which alſo is next to impoſſible under our Illuminations by the Goſpel. Wherefore our Lord, according to the infinite Wiſdom and Sanctity of God in Him, has warned us to take heed how we do our Alms, Ieſt we have no Reward from our Father in Heaven. Matth. vi.
II. I am now to ſhow, that this Evangelical Chriſtian charitable Frame of Spirit is an unſpeakable Gift of God.
And here,
1. Literally true it is, that no Tongue of Man can duely ſpeak of it, or enough praiſe and celebrate it. It is above all our Thoughts and Words, we can neither think or ſpeak of it as it merits. Such is every Work and Gift of God in the Kingdom of Nature and Providence. "See that thou magnify theſe viſible Works, which Eyes of Fleſh behold. "His Work is honourable and glorious, and his Praiſe endureth for Ever. How much more his Spiritual Work, the Gift by Grace within thy Self and Others. The Angels of God pry ſilently into this, and we need their Eyes and Tongues to look into it and ſpeak of it. "Bleſs the Lord ye his Angels that excel in Strength! and "awake up our Glory too, though we be but Babes and Sucklings in compariſon of Them; for from our Mind and Mouth God has ordained Strength.—We liſp and ſtammer at a proper Word, and poorly apprehend many of the Great Words put into our Mouth. "Let Him teach us what we ſhall ſay! and ſhall it be told Him that we ſpeak! who can utter his mighty Acts, or ſhew forth all his Praiſe! —Accordingly the Apoſtle labours in my Context, to ſpeak of the Gift of God; ſeems at a loſs, ſpeaks abundantly, over and over, and knows not when he has ſaid enough of the excellent Grace: Inriched, ſays he, in every thing, to all Bountifulneſs, which is abundant by many Thankſgivings to God, from thoſe that long after you for the exceeding Grace of God in you.— If a Man wou'd ſpeak of a thing unſpeakable, it muſt be juſt after this manner; it being literally true, that no Tongue of Man can fully ſpeak the Praiſes of Chriſtian Charity.
2. Unſpeakable is the Good done in the World by a right charitable Frame of Spirit. Unſpeakable are the Needs which Sin has brought upon us, not only on the poor and low of the World, but alſo on others, even on the richeſt and higheſt. We unſpeakably need one anothers Help and Service, and unſpeakable are the Benefits we receive from others in our Neceſſities. The poor ſerve the rich abundantly, more eſpecially in their Sickneſſes; and very often do it gratis, for nothing, out of pure Humanity, Reſpect and Compaſſion, and are never requited: Sometimes from Gratitude for Favours received, and as often (I would wiſh) from a Principle of Grace within them, it being all the Way they have to expreſs a pious Love to God & their Neighbours.—Others to whom God has given Riches, and Largeneſs of Heart to do Good with it, give Portions to the Poor by ſevens and eights, and by ſcores and hundreds; deviſing liberal things, and caſting their Bread upon the Waters. The Bowels of the poor are refreſhed by them, they are Eyes to the blind and Feet to the lame, Parents to the Fatherleſs, and they cauſe the Widow's Heart to ſing; the Bleſſing of them that are ready to periſh comes on them, and of him that is helpleſs. They are as the Heat and Rain to a thirſty and cold Earth, as the Light of the Morning and the Dews of the Evening to thoſe among whom they dwell, who paſs their Days and Nights the better for their Neighbourhood. Their Glory is freſh in them, and their Bow is renewed in their Hand. They live not to Themſelves, but others glean by handfuls of what they plentifully ſowe. God multiply their Seed ſown, and increaſe the Fruits of their Righteouſneſs; while the Loyns of the Poor bleſs them, warm'd with the Fleece of their Flock. Theſe are the Men of whom we ſhall hear well another Day, but how will they be able to bear the Joy of the bleſſed Words! I was hungry and ye gave me Meat, thirſty and ye gave me Drink, naked and ye clothed me, a Stranger and ye took me in . Unſpeakable (you ſee) is the Good done in this needy World, and Heaven acknowledges it to be ſo, and accordingly rates the Gift in the Book of Account.
3. Unſpeakable is the Glory redounding to GOD from a right Chriſtian charitable Frame of Spirit, in the noble humble Exerciſe of it thro' the Earth, and therefore is it an unſpeakable Gift. This is a Reaſon or Argument that riſes much higher than the former; for if it be a good and great Thing to do much Good to our Fellow-Creatures, how much more is it to be any Ways Inſtrumental in any Glory and Honour to the Name of GOD? Yet HE is glorified (ſays my Context) by Others, on the Account of the Acts of Bounty done them by their merciful Neighbour.
The Great and bountiful God makes much, makes the moſt of our little Alms and Offerings to Him: As our Saviour did of the Widow's two Mites; they were a rich Offering in his Eye, and he magnify'd it and her. So God ſhines on his own Works wrought in us and by us, and puts great Honour on 'em, makes great Account of 'em. And ſo in the laſt Day he will glorify Himſelf in glorifying his Elect, In as much as ye have done it to the leaſt of theſe my Brethren, ye have done it unto me.
We are bid to let our Lights ſhine before Men, that they ſeeing our good Works may glorify our Father which is in Heaven. The liberal Man does ſo, but not to be ſeen of Men. There is that is manifeſt, and cannot be hid. Men do not light a Candle and put it under a Buſhel. A good Man bleſſes God for the Light that ſhines on others, as well as on Himſelf. If one is inriched to all Bountifulneſs, it cauſes in others Thankſgiving to God; yea is abundant by many Thankſgivings to Him, ſays my Context: "They glorify God for your profeſſed Subjection to the Goſpel, and pray unto God for you.
Now the leaſt Glory to God is an unſpeakable thing. What is Man, and what the World he lives in, and what the Riches thereof, and you will ſay what the poor of it, that GOD ſhould have Glory from them! "Behold He putteth no Truſt in his Saints, and the Heavens are not clean in his Sight! how much leſs Man that is a Worm! What then can Man think or ſpeak of, ask or pray for, like to this! Father in Heaven, thy Name be hallowed!— for Thine is the Kingdom and Power and Glory for ever! Well is it made the Alpha and Omega, the firſt and the laſt, in our Prayers. It muſt be the everlaſting Law and Motive to us, reſpecting giving and receiving; 1 Peter iv. 11. If any Man miniſter, of the Ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jeſus Chriſt; to whom be Praiſe and Dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
4. The Good to our ſelves is unſpeakable, in a liberal and bountiful Spirit, and therefore it is an unſpeakable Gift to us and in us. Unſpeakable is the preſent Comfort to a good Man by this Gift, and unſpeakable is the future and eternal Reward of it in the Life to come.
1. If we conſider only the Pleaſure and Comfort of it to a Man in this Life, to be of a merciful and bountiful Eye, it is to him an unſpeakable Gift. He is ſatisfied in Himſelf, God anſwers him in the Joy of his Heart. The greateſt Pleaſure of Life is to be good and do good. The Words of our Lord Jeſus are to be had in everlaſting Remembrance, "It is more bleſſed to give than to receive. The Man's State and Frame is more bleſſed; unleſs it be when the poor Man exceeds in Grace, in the manner of his receiving; and then the Tide turns on his Side.
Job tells us the Pleaſure he found in Acts of Munificence in the Days of his Proſperity; and it was unſpeakable: When the Ear heard me, it bleſſed me! when the Eye ſaw me it gave witneſs to me! then ſaid I, I ſhall die in my Neſt, or multiply my Days as the Sand! my Root was ſpread out by the Waters, and the Dew lay all Night upon my Branch! my Glory was freſh in me, and my Bow was renewed in my Hand! they waited for me as for the Rain, and opened their Mouth wide as for the latter Rain! I choſe out their Way and ſat Chief, and dwelt as a King in his Army; as One that comforteth the Mourners.
Even all the bitter Sorrows of Job could not take away the Comfort of the Remembrance of his paſt Joys in Acts of Charity & Mercy. "If (ſaid he) I had with-held the poor from his Deſire,"— O the Pleaſure of yeilding them their Deſire, when it is pious and juſt, and the Power be in our Hand, and our Heart be big enough;—or if I cauſed the Eyes of the Widow to fail! If I eat my Morſel alone, and the Fatherleſs did not ſhare with me! for from my Youth I was his Father, and Widow's Guide. —I tell you, that as the Heart knows its own Bitterneſs, ſo only the Heart of a Job knows the Comfort of a Conſciouſneſs of ſuch a Frame and Exerciſe, as this which his own Words have ſpoken, and who can add to them? How did all the Good he had ever done to the Poor return into his own Boſom, and flow out of his Lips from the Abundance in his heart! The Objects of Charity were always to him as his own Bowels, and how were his Bowels refreſh'd hereby, at the Time and long after. He felt the ruling Power of Grace, and had Confidence toward God. The Joy of Faith and Hope accompanied and follow'd the Exerciſe of Love and brotherly Kindneſs.
2. But the Great and laſt, the infinite and eternal Rewards of Grace, to the charitable and godly Man, are in the Bleſſedneſs and Glories of the World to come, and theſe render the Gift of Grace to him and in him unſpeakable. Eye has not ſeen this, nor Ear heard it, nor can it enter into our Hearts to conceive of it. When the Son of Man ſhall come in his Glory, and faſhion his Elect and Merciful Ones after his own glorious Body, and ſay to 'em in the Hearing of all his holy Angels,— Come ye bleſſed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World! for I was hungry and ye gave me Meat, &c. —O with what Rapture will they make the humble Anſwer, "Lord, when ſaw we thee hungry and fed thee, or thirſty and gave thee Drink?—The Day muſt reveal it, what the Joy of the Lord and of his Members will then be! then they ſhall be recompenc'd, at the Reſurrection of the Juſt. It is worth waiting for the Joys of that bleſſed Day, which will be given in full Meaſure, preſſed down and running over. Then he that has ſown bountifully ſhall reap bountifully: Then not a Cup of Water given as to a Diſciple of Chriſt ſhall be forgotten. The Rewards of free Grace will be found nothing leſs than a Crown and Kingdom, a Crown of Glory eternal in the Heavens. How unknown, unſpeakable, unſearchable is this! it is high as Heaven, what can'ſt thou know? Infinite as GOD Himſelf, who is thy SHIELD and exceeding great Reward; O Seed of generous Abraham! It is a far exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory.—We find and ſee many temporal things unſearchable, how much more thoſe that are unſeen and eternal. Wherefore,
III. The higheſt Thankſgivings are due from us to the bleſſed God, for this his unſpeakable Gift to any of the Children of Men; and ſhould be fervently render'd to Him in the Churches of his Saints. "Thanks be to God for his unſpeakable Gift.
But (as was ſaid before) what Thanks can we render, when the Gift is unſpeakable? O 'tis above all our Praiſes and Bleſſings! Yet as the Levites ſaid to the Auguſt Congregation, Nehem ix. 5. "Stand up and bleſs the Lord your God for ever and ever! and bleſſed be thy glorious Name which is exalted above all Praiſe.
I ſhall only ſay two Things here,
1. They that receive the Gift ſhould be very thankful to God for it. The charitable Perſon ſhould himſelf give Thanks to God for making him ſo, while yet he abaſes himſelf before the Lord, as an unprofitable Creature, and behaves humble and lowly before Men. Yet ought he to glorify God for any Heart to do good, and for any Means to do it. He muſt aſſume nothing to himſelf, but aſcribe all to God; of Whom and to Whom are all things. "For what haſt thou which is not received? and if received, whereof haſt thou to glory? The Glory belongs to Him who has given to thee, that thou may'ſt give to others. As, ſuppoſe a rich and charitable Perſon puts into my Hand a Sum or Sums of Money to diſtribute unto others in Want; it is his Gift and Bounty, and not mine; and I ought to be thankful to Him together with thoſe to whom I diſtribute. In like manner if GOD give You Ability and a Heart to do good to others, you owe the firſt Thanks to God, and ſhou'd be ready to ſay with the Church, "Not unto us, O Lord, not to us, but to thy Name be Glory.
You, my Brethren! that are honoured of God to give unto the poor, might have been your ſelves, and ſo your Families, among the indigent and neceſſitous! You might have been Receivers of the Charities of others, the Objects of their Compaſſion.
Or yet worſe, You might have been among the niggardly and covetous in the midſt of Riches; not able to eat of your own Bread, and leſs to give unto others! An Evil too often ſeen and felt, a Miſery too common under the Sun, which yet ſhines liberally on the niggard Soul.
Or ſtill worſe, You might have been among the fraudulent and unjuſt, the Cheat, the Theif and the Robber; or (which is little better) the Gripe and the Extortioner, the Spoiler of the Widow, the motherleſs and fatherleſs! But who has made you to differ? made Thee a Benefactor and Bleſſing to the World, among theſe Plagues and Curſes in it? GOD, who is rich in Mercy, and Sovereign in his Gifts and Grace to Men, He has done it! "Who has Mercy becauſe he will have Mercy. He that made Abel Cain's Brother, and gave to Abraham and Job and Moſes their Grandeur of Heart.
Let free Grace therefore have all the Glory; as the Apoſtle teaches us, Epheſ. 3.18. To me, who am leſs than the leaſt of all Saints is this Grace given. So thou by the Grace of God art what thou art, and his Grace given thee has not been in vain! And if you labour more than others, yet not you, but the Grace of God in You.—So when David had done a kingly part, and his Princes a very princely one, in way of Offerings out of their Eſtates; then David ſaid before the Lord, 1 Chron. xxix. 14. But who am I O Lord God, and what is my People, that we ſhould be able to offer ſo willingly after this ſort! for all things come of Thee and of thy own have we given thee. — Thus they that receive the Gift, ſhould give Thanks for it.
2. Others, but eſpecially the poor and needy, they ſhould be very thankful to God. The Charitable are God's Gifts to Men, even to the rebellious; (and indeed ſuch themſelves among their Brethren) that the Lord God might dwell among us. I may lawfully transfer theſe Words from Miniſters in the Church, to the liberal in the Flocks; for it is the ſame God and the ſame Grace that forms both the one and the other, to ſerve the Needs of Souls and Bodies. "We do you to wit therefore of the Grace of God beſtowed on the Churches, in both. The ſame Holy Spirit that deſcended on the Apoſtles in Tongues of Fire, came down on the Multitude of Believers at that memorable Time and they had all things common. And now the ordinary Gifts of your Miniſters for the Service of your Souls, and the ordinary Spirit of Charity in our Churches, are from the ſame Fulneſs, of Chriſt; of Whom all do receive and Grace upon Grace. He puts the earneſt Care for Soul and Body into the one and other; whether it be Titus or Gaius, doing faithfully for the Brethren or Strangers.
The Gifts and Graces of others, and the Uſe God pleaſes to make of them, ſhould be pleaſant to us and admired by us; and we ſhould rejoice in all that we ſee of God in them. We ſhould prize the good Examples they give us, give God the Glory of them, and be excited to a holy Imitation. 1. Theſſ. iii. 9. For what Thanks can we render unto God for you? for all the Joy wherewith we joy before our God for your ſakes.
The poor eſpecially ſhould be very thankful to God, for his unſpeakable Gift to them, in all the Charities of the rich and bountiful. They ſhould religiouſly accept the Gift of Heaven in thoſe whom they muſt call their Benefactors. They ſhould look thro' and above Men unto God, who gives by their Hands. They muſt no more idolize Men, than they would bow down to an Image of Wood or Gold; no more than they would kiſs the Calves, or their Hand to the Sun or Moon in their Brightneſs; for this were to deny the moſt high and firſt Benefactor. "Why look ye ſo earneſtly at us? ſaid Peter and John to the wondring and almoſt worſhipping People at the Gate of the Temple, when they had in the Name of Jeſus given more than Silver or Gold to the Cripple, even Feet to walk and leap. What is a bountiful Donor to us, but a Steward and Almoner of God, his kind and open Hand! Who ſhall have the Praiſe? the King that orders his Medals to be ſtrowed among the Crowd, or the Servitor that ſcatters 'em at his Command? Jacob ſaw the Face of God in Eſau's Affection, when he ran with open Arms and Eyes full of Tears to embrace him. So let the poor ſee the Face and Hand of God, in all the Heart and Care of others for them. They are what God makes 'em, and he has made 'em ſuch ….
God knows the irreligious poor, ungrateful to Him, unthankful and unholy, who receive and eat and give him not Thanks. It may be they how to Men, and treble their Thanks to them and bleſs 'em, and yet do not lift their Hearts at all to God. It may be they neither pray for themſelves or others in ſecret, altho' their Dependance is ſo great on Providence and its Inſtruments; nor do they bleſs God when he ſends 'em in Supplies.—God values the Thanks of the Poor as much as of the Rich, and they as much owe it to Him. Let 'em learn the Song of Hannah, and ſing it with her gracious Spirit, 1 Sam. 2. init "My Heart rejoices in the Lord, my Horn is exalted in the Lord: He maketh poor and maketh rich; the hungry ceaſe, and the rich have hired out themſelves for Bread.
Having thus at large conſider'd the unſpeakable Gift of God, in a right charitable Frame of Spirit, and the Thankſgiving and Praiſe due from us unto God therefor, I might naturally go into a large Compaſs of Meditation on other the unſpeakable Gifts of God to us, all of which are more or leſs related unto this that I have been ſpeaking of; and it may be I could not well go into a more proper and profitable Application of the Subject.
As,
1. Look we within our ſelves, into our own Souls and Bodies, fram'd as they are for Thankſgiving to God, and for all Offices of Humanity and Charity to our Nei'bours; what a Gift of God is this Mind and Heart, and theſe Eyes and Hands; firſt to lift up to God, and then to look and reach out to his poor! this ſocial Nature for worſhipping and communicating! In every Relation and in all Offices of Human Life, publick and private, wherein God has plac'd us to ſerve and bleſs one another; what Gifts of God unſpeakable ought every One to be unto his Correlate and therein to the Community! from the Conſort, Parent and Child, up to the King on the Throne; and down again from all that rule under Him, to the loweſt Subject in the State!—What a wide Compaſs of unſpeakable Bleſſings wou'd every Perſon, in every Order, preſent us with? all under the Law of Kindneſs, and all their Things done with Charity.
2. What an unſpeakable Gift therefore is a good Government, good Magiſtrates, wiſe, pious, faithful, public-ſpirited Rulers; great and good Kings, Princes, Nobles, Governours, Legiſlators, and Judges: Whom we are bid to pray for, and are bound to give Thanks for; while under them we are living quiet and peaceable Lives, in all Godlineſs and Honeſty. 2 Sam. xxiii. 1,—4. He ſhall be at the Light of the Morning when the Sun ariſeth, even a Morning without Clouds; and as the tender Graſs ſpringing out of the Earth by clear ſhining after Rain. Such Gifts from Heaven were Moſes and Joſhua, Samuel and David, Hezekiah and Nehemiah to the Iſrael of God, in their Generation.
3. What an unſpeakable Gift of God to us is our Church-State, our ſpiritual Relation in Chriſt, our Fellowſhip in the Goſpel, our Brotherhood, the Vocation wherewith we are called! to be a ſpiritual Houſe, a Kingdom of Prieſts, a choſen Generation, a peculiar People and Treaſure, to ſhew forth the Praiſes of our God and Saviour. Your Sabbaths, the preached Goſpel, the Ordinances of our God, and the Miniſters of Religion; theſe are among the Gifts from the Aſcended Jeſus. As it is written, — I gave them my Sabbaths for a Sign between Me and them that I am the Lord that doth ſanctify them (g)Ezek. xx. 12. Pſal. cxlvii. 19. Eph. iv. 8, 11. 2▪ Cor. iv. 7.: He gave his Word unto Jacob, his Statutes and Judgments unto Iſrael, He has not done ſo by many a People: He gave Prophets, Apoſtles, Evangeliſts, Paſtors and Teachers, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the Work of the Miniſtry, for the Edifying the Body of Chriſt. Enoch, Moſes and Aaron, Elijah and Eliſha, Peter and John and Paul, and many after them, in their Spirit, have been invaluable Gifts to the Church; a Treaſure in Earthen Veſſels, that the Excellency of the Power may be of God and not of Man. Nor have there been wanting in the Churches of Chriſt, nor ever ſhall be, ſuch Gifts from among their gracious Members, to and of whom we may take up the illuſtrious Words of the Apoſtle to the Philippians and the Theſſalonians, in our Thankſgivings to God (h)Phil. i. 3, 1 Theſ. i. 3. 2. i. 3.: I thank my God upon every Remembrance of you, for your Fellowſhip in the Goſpel! and we give Thanks always for you all, remembring without ceaſing your Work of Faith, and Labour of Love, and Patience of Hope in our Lord Jeſus Chriſt; and ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the Word with much Affliction and Joy in the Holy Ghoſt; becauſe your Faith groweth exceedingly, and your Charity one to another aboundeth; ſo that we glory in You in the Churches of God for your Patience and Faith. Thus the meaneſt and pooreſt, on worldly Accounts, in the viſible Church, became unſpeakable Gifts of Grace to it; and will be found ſo in the Church of the Firſt-born, whoſe Names are written in Heaven.
But to leave all things here below, and to aſcend up far above all Heavens, I add
4. and laſtly, The unſpeakable Gift of CHRIST and of the HOLY SPIRIT, the Saviour and Sanctifier of Souls; which two are one, equal in Godhead and Glory. Here triumph with me, my Hearers, in the adoring Contemplation of the ineffable Gift of God, his own Eternal Son, the Only-begotten of the Father, whoſe Glory was beheld in his Miracles of Mercy to the Bodies of Men, but more in his Compaſſions to their Souls; his holy Miniſtry, Labours and Sufferings for their Salvation; to ſave our Souls from ſpiritual and eternal Death, to cover a multitude of Sins, to make Reconciliation for Iniquity, to bring in an Everlaſting Righteouſneſs for the Juſtification of Sinners. The crucified Jeſus is ſuch a 2 Gift of God to the Sons of Men, as infinitely tranſcends the Tongues of Angels, when they would give Him the Glory of it. They deſire to look into it, and give Glory in the Higheſt. The Elders with them prepare new Songs for ever, and caſt their Crowns before the Throne.
How then ſhall the Tongues of Men below be able to ſpeak of the Gift of God to us in the Incarnation, Obedience, Death, Reſurrection and Interceſſion of CHRIST, or of his Coming again in Glory for the Salvation of thoſe that believe in Him!—Here all Words are ſwallowed up, we are ſtruck mute, & Praiſe ſits ſilent. Iſai. ix. 6. To us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the Government ſhall be upon his Shoulder: And his Name ſhall be called, Wonderful, Counſellor, the mighty God, the Everlaſting Father, the Prince of Peace!
This, this (my Brethren) is the unſpeakable Gift of God unto us, to be in in Everlaſting Remembrance with us in all our Worſhip before Him, ſecret, private and public; every Lord's-Day and all our Communion-Days: In every Ordinance of Worſhip He is offer'd to us for our thankful Acceptance, to be of God made unto us Wiſdom, Righteouſneſs, Sanctification and Redemption! and we muſt be making the Offering of our Selves to Him, as bought with a Price, living Sacrifices, which is our reaſonable Service, holy and acceptable to God. Grace to do this, is an unſpeakable Gift indeed.
Therefore we muſt give equal Glory to the HOLY GHOST, yielding our Selves to Him, as the bleſſed Sanctifier, proceeding from the Father and the Son! One with the REDEEMER in Godhead and everlaſting Love to Souls. John xiv. 16. The Comforter, whom I will ſend unto You from the Father, He ſhall receive of Mine and ſhew it unto you.
This Heavenly Gift reſted on Moſes and the Elders, Patriarchs and Prophets, ſanctified and inſpired them. He has formed every Saint thro' all the Ages of the Church. But the grand Effuſion was the Glory of the New Teſtament, and the Promiſe is ſtill flowing down to us: Iſai. xliv. 3. I will pour Water upon him that is thirſty, and Floods upon the dry Ground; I will pour my SPIRIT upon your Seed, and my Bleſſing upon your Offspring: And one ſhall ſay I am the Lord's, and another ſhall ſubſcribe with his Hand to the Lord, &c. — Souls can need nor ask more. Chriſt has no more to offer to us. John vii. 37. In the laſt and great Day of the Feaſt Jeſus ſtood and cried, ſaying, "If any Man thirſt, let him come unto me and drink, and out of his Belly ſhall flow Rivers of living Water: This ſpake He of the SPIRIT which they that believe on him ſhall receive.
CHRIST and the HOLY GHOST are the One, inſeperable, undivided, infinite, eternal, and therefore unſpeakable Gift of GOD. Let us wait for it as for the Rain, and open our Mouth wide for it as for the latter Rain. God fill us with this Bleſſing of Bleſſings. Revel. xxii. 17. "The Spirit and the Bride ſay, Come; and let him that heareth ſay, Come; and let him that is athirſt come; and whoſoever will let him take of the Water of Life freely.
FINIS.
End of the text · Benjamin Colman, The Unspeakable Gift of God (1739)