Sermons on Various Subjects Volume 1, Sermon 6
SERMON VI.
The KNOWLEDGE of JESUS CHRIST the beſt KNOWLEDGE.
1 COR. ii. 2.
I determined not to know any Thing among you, ſave JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified.
THE Perſons to whom theſe Words were written, were the Members of the Church of Corinth; who, as appears by the foregoing Chapter, were not only divided into different Sects, by one ſaying, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos; but alſo had many amongſt them, who were ſo full of the Wiſdom of this World, and ſo wiſe in their own Eyes, that they ſet at nought the Simplicity of the Goſpel, and accounted the Apoſtle's Preaching Fooliſhneſs.
Never had the Apoſtle more Need of the Wiſdom of the Serpent, mingled with the Innocency of the Dove, than now. What is the Sum of all his Wiſdom? he tells them, in the Words of the Text, I determined not to know any Thing amongſt you, ſave JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified.
A Reſolution this, worthy the great St. Paul, and no leſs worthy, no leſs neceſſary for every Miniſter, and every Diſciple of CHRIST, to make always, even unto the End of the World.
In the following Diſcourſe, I ſhall
Firſt explain what is meant by not knowing any Thing, ſave JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified.
Secondly, Give ſome Reaſons why every Chriſtian ſhould determine not to know any Thing elſe. And
Thirdly, Conclude with a general Exhortation to put this Determination into Practice.
And Firſt, I am to explain what is meant by not knowing any Thing, ſave JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified.
By JESUS CHRIST, we are to underſtand the Eternal Son of GOD. He is called JESUS, i. e. A Saviour, becauſe he was to ſave us from the Guilt and Power of our Sins; and, like Joſhua, by whom he was remarkably typified, to lead GOD's Spiritual Iſrael … the Wilderneſs of this World, to … heavenly Canaan, the promiſed Inheritance of the Children of GOD.
He is called CHRIST, which ſignifies Anointed, becauſe he was anointed by the Holy Ghoſt at …, to be a Prophet to inſtruct, a Prieſt to make an Atonement for, and a King to go… and protect his Church.—And he was crucified, or hung (O ſtupendous Love!) till he was dead upon the Croſs, that he might become a Curſe for us: For it is written, Curſed is every Man that hanget… upon a Tree
The Foundation or firſt Cauſe of his Suffering, was our Fall in Adam, in whom, as the living Oracles of GOD declare, We all died, i. e. His Sin was imputed to us all. It pleaſed GOD, after he had ſpoken the World into Being, to create Man after his own Divine Image, to breathe into him the Breath of Life, and to place him as our Repreſentative in the Garden of Eden.
But he being left to his own free Will, eat of the forbidden Fruit, notwithſtanding GOD had told him, the Day in which he eat thereof, he ſhould ſurely die; and thereby he, with his whole Poſterity, in whoſe Name he acted, became liable to the Wrath of GOD, and ſunk into a ſpiritual Death.
But behold the Goodneſs, as well as the Severity of GOD! For no ſooner had Man been convicted as a Sinner, but lo! a Saviour is revealed to him, under the Character of the Seed of the Woman, the Merits of whoſe Sacrifice was then immediately to take Place, and who ſhould, in the Fulneſs of Time, by ſuffering Death, ſatisfy for the Guilt we had contracted; and by becoming a Principle of new Life in us, ſhould bruiſe the Serpent's Head, deſtroy the Power of the Devil within us, and thereby reſtore us to a better State than that in which we were at firſt created.
This is the plain Scriptural Account of that Myſtery of Godlineſs GOD manifeſted in the Fleſh; and to this our own Hearts unleſs blinded by the God of this World, cannot but yield an immediate Aſſent.
For, let us but ſearch our own Hearts, and aſk ourſelves if we could create our own Children, whether or not we would not create them with a leſs Mixture of Good and Evil than we find in ourſelves? Suppoſing GOD then only to have our Goodneſs, he could not, at firſt, make us ſo ſinful, ſo polluted as we are. But ſuppoſing him to be as he is, infinitely good, or Goodneſs itſelf, then it is abſolutely impoſſible that he ſhould create any thing but what i… like himſelf, perfect, entire, lacking nothing.—Man then could not come out of the Hands of his Maker, ſo miſerably blind and …ked, with ſuch a Mixture of the Beaſt and D…l, as he finds now in himſelf, but muſt have fallen from what he was; and as it does not ſuit with the Goodneſs and Juſtneſs of GOD, to puniſh the whole Race of Mankind with theſe Diſorders merely for nothing; and ſince Men bring theſe Diſorders into the World with them; it follows, that as they could not ſin themſelves, being y… unborn, ſome other Man's Sin muſt have been imputed to them; from whence, as from a Fountain, all theſe Evils flow.
I know this Doctrine of our original Sin, or Fall in Adam, is eſteemed Fooliſhneſs by the wiſe Diſputer of this World, who will reply, How does it ſuit with the Goodneſs of GOD to impute one Man's Sin to an innocent Poſterity? But has it not been proved to a Demonſtration, that it is ſo? And therefore, ſuppoſing we cannot reconcile it to our ſhallow Comprehenſions, that is no Argument at all: For if it appears that GOD has done a Thing, we may be ſure it is right, whether we can ſee the Reaſons for it or not.
But this is intirely cleared up by what was ſaid before, that no ſooner was the Sin imputed, but a Mediator was revealed; ſo that as in Adam all died, even ſo in CHRIST all might be made alive.
That CHRIST then, this GOD incarnate, who was conceived by the Holy Ghoſt, that he might be freed from the Guilt of our original Sin; who was born of the Virgin Mary, that he might be the Seed of the Woman only, who ſuffered under Pontius Pilate, a Gentile Governor, to fulfil thoſe Propheſies, which ſignified what Death he ſhould die—This ſame JESUS, who was crucified in Weakneſs, but raiſed in Power, is that Divine Perſon, that Immanuel, that GOD with us, whom we preach, in whom you believe, and whom alone the Apoſtle, in the Text, was determined to know.
By which Word Know, we are not to underſtand a bare hiſtorical Knowledge (for to know that CHRIST was crucified by his Enemies at Jeruſalem in this Manner only, will do us no more Service than to know that Caeſar was inhumanly butchered by his Friends at Rome) but the Word Know, means to know, ſo as to …pprove of him, as when CHRIST ſays, Verily, I know you not; i. e. I know you not, ſo as to approve of you—It ſignifies to know him, ſo as to embrace him in all his Offices;—to take him to be our Prophet, Prieſt, and King; ſo as to give up ourſelves wholly to be inſtructed, ſaved, and governed by him—It implies an experimental Knowledge of his Crucifixion, ſo as to feel the Power of it, and be crucified unto the World, as the Apoſtle explains himſelf in the Epiſtle to the Philippians, where he ſays, He counts all Things but Dung and Droſs that he might know him, and the Power of his Reſurrection.
This Knowledge the Apoſtle was ſo ſwallowed up in, that he was determined not to know any Thing elſe; that is, He was reſolved to make that his only Study—the governing Principle of his Life, the Point and End in which all his Thoughts, Words, and Actions, ſhould center.
Secondly, I paſs on to give ſome Reaſons why every Chriſtian ſhould, with the Apoſtle, determine not to know any Thing, ſave JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified.
And, Firſt, Without this, our Perſons will not be accepted in the Sight of GOD. This, and conſequently this only, is Life Eternal, ſays our Bleſſed LORD himſelf, to know thee, the only true GOD, and JESUS CHRIST, whom thou haſt ſent. As alſo St. Peter ſays, There is now no other Name given under Heaven whereby we can be ſaved, but that of JESUS CHRIST.
Some indeed, may pleaſe themſelves in knowing the World, others boaſt themſelves in the Knowledge of a Multitude of Languages; but could we ſpeak with the Tongue of Men and Angels, or did we know the Number of the Stars, and could call them all by their Names, yet, without this experimental Knowledge of JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified, it would profit us nothing.
The former, indeed, may procure us a little Honour, which cometh of Man; but the latter only can render us acceptable in the Sight of GOD: For, if we are ignorant of CHRIST, GOD will be to us a conſuming Fire.
CHRIST is Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one cometh to the Father but through him—He is the Lamb ſlain from the Foundation of the World, and none ever were, or ever will be received up into Glory, but by an experimental Application of his Merits to their Hearts.
We might as well think to rebuild the Tower of Babel, or reach Heaven with our Hands, as to imagine to enter therein by any other Door than that of the Knowledge of JESUS CHRIST.
Other Knowledge may make you wiſe in your own Eyes, and puff you up; but this alone edifieth, and maketh wiſe unto Salvation.
As the meaneſt Chriſtian, if he knows but this, though he know nothing elſe, will be accepted; ſo the greateſt Maſter in Iſrael, the moſt Letter-learned Teacher, without this, will be rejected. His Philoſophy is mere Nonſenſe, his Wiſdom mere Fooliſhneſs in the Sight of GOD.
The Author of the Words now before us, was a remarkable Inſtance of this; never, perhaps, was a greater Scholar, in all what the World calls fine Learning, than he: For he was bred up at the Feet of Gamaliel, and profited in the Knowledge of Books, as well as in the Jewiſh Religion, above many of his Equals, as appears by the Language, Rhetorick, and Spirit of his Writings; and yet, when he came to know what it was to be a Chriſtian, He accounted all Things but Loſs, ſo he might win CHRIST. And, though he was now at Corin…, that Seat of polite Learning, yet he was abſolutely determined not to know any Thing, to make nothing his Study, but what taught him to know JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified.
Hence then, appears the Folly of thoſe who ſpend their whole Lives in heaping up other Knowledge; and inſtead of ſearching the Scriptures, which teſtify of JESUS CHRIST, and are alone able to make them wiſe unto Salvation, diſquiet themſelves in a Purſuit after the Knowledge of ſuch Things, as when known, concern them no more, than to know that a Bird dropped a Feather upon one of the Pyrenean Mountains.
Hence it is, that ſo many, who profeſs themſelves wiſe, becauſe they can diſpute of the Cauſes and Effects, the moral Fitneſs and Unfitneſs of Things, appear mere Fools in the Things of GOD; ſo that when you come to converſe with them about the great Work of Redemption wrought out for us by JESUS CHRIST, of his being a Propitiation for our Sins, and a Principle of new Life to our Souls, they are quite ignorant of the whole Matter, and prove, to a Demonſtration, that, with all their Learning, they know nothing yet as they ought to know.
But, good GOD! how muſt it ſurpriſe a Man, when the Moſt High is about to take away his Soul, to think that he has paſſed for a wiſe Man, and a learned Diſputer in this World, and yet is left deſtitute of that Knowledge which alone can make him appear with Boldneſs before the Judgment-Seat of JESUS CHRIST? How muſt it grieve him, in a future State, to ſee others, whom he deſpiſed as unlearned and illiterate Men, becauſe they experimentally knew CHRIST, and him crucified, exalted to the Right Hand of GOD, and himſelf, with all his ſine Accompliſhments, becauſe he knew every Thing, perhaps, but CHRIST, thruſt down into Hell?
Well might the Apoſtle, in a holy Triumph cry out, Where is the Wiſe? Where is the Scribe? Where is the Diſputer of this World? For, GOD will then make fooliſh the Wiſdom of this World, and bring to nought the Wiſdom of thoſe who were ſo knowing in their own Eyes.
I made this Digreſſion from the main Point before us, not to condemn or deny human Literature, but to ſhew, that it ought to be uſed only in Subordination to divine▪ and that a Chriſtian, if the holy Spirit guided the Pen of the Apoſtle when he wrote this Epiſtle, ought to ſtudy no Books, but ſuch as lead him into a farther Knowledge of JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified.
And there is the more Reaſon for this, becauſe of the great Miſchief the contrary Practice has done to the Church of GOD: For, what was it but this Learning, or rather this Ignorance, that kept ſo many of the Scribes and Phariſees from the ſaving Knowledge of JESUS CHRIST? And what is it, but this human Wiſdom, this Science, falſly ſo called, that blinds the Underſtanding, and corrupts the Hearts of ſo many modern Unbelievers, and makes them unwilling to ſubmit to the Righteouſneſs which is of GOD by Faith in CHRIST JESUS!
But, Secondly, Without this Knowledge our Performances, as well as Perſons, will not be acceptable in the Sight of GOD.
Through Faith, ſays the Apoſtle, that is, Through a … Faith in a Mediator hereafter to come, Abel offered a more acceptable Sacrifice than Cain. And it is through a like Faith, or an experimental Knowledge of the ſame divine Mediator, that our Sacrifices of Prayer, Praiſe, and Thankſgivings, come up as an Incenſe before the Throne of Grace.
Two Perſons may go up to the Temple to pray; but he only will return home juſtified, who, in the Language of our Collects, ſincerely offers up his Prayers through JESUS CHRIST our LORD.
For it is this great Atonement, this all-ſufficient Sacrifice, which alone can give us Boldneſs to approach with our Prayers to the Holy of Holies; and he that preſumes to go without this, acts Korah's Crime over again—offers GOD ſtrange Fire, and, conſequently, will be rejected by him.
Farther, as our Devotions to GOD will not, ſo neither, without this Knowledge of JESUS CHRIST, will our Acts of Charity to Men be accepted by him.
For did we give all our Goods to feed the Poor, and yet were deſtitute of this Knowledge, it would profit us nothing.
This our Bleſſed LORD himſelf intimates in the 25th of St. Matthew, where he tells thoſe that had been rich in good Works, That in as much as they did it unto one of the leaſt of his Brethren, they did it unto him. From whence we may plainly infer, that it is ſeeing CHRIST in his Members, and doing good to them out of an experimental Knowledge of his Love to us, that alone will render our Alms-Deeds rewardable at the laſt Day.
Laſtly, As neither our Acts of Piety nor Charity, ſo neither will our civil nor moral Actions be acceptable to GOD without this experimental Knowledge of JESUS CHRIST.
Our modern Pretenders to Reaſon, indeed, ſet up another Principle to act from; they talk, I Know not what, Of doing moral and civil Duties of Life, from the moral Fitneſs and Unfitneſs of Things. But ſuch Men are blind, however they may pretend to ſee; and going thus about to eſtabliſh their own Righteouſneſs, are utterly ignorant of the Righteouſneſs which is of GOD by Faith in CHRIST JESUS.
For though we grant, that Morality is a ſubſtantial Part of Chriſtianity, and that CHRIST came not to deſtroy, i. e. not to take off the Force of the moral Law, as a Rule of Action, but to explain, and ſo fulfil it; yet we affirm, that our moral and civil Actions are now no farther acceptable in the Sight of GOD the Father, than as they proceed from a Principle of a new Nature, and an experimental Knowledge of, or vital Faith in his dear Son.
For the Death of JESUS CHRIST has turned our whole Lives into one continued Sacrifice; and whether we eat or drink, whether we pray to GOD, or do any Thing to Man, it muſt all be done out of a Love for, and Knowledge of him who died and roſe again, to render all, even our moſt ordinary Deeds, acceptable in the Sight of GOD.
If we live by this Principle, if CHRIST be the Alpha and Omega of all our Actions, then our moſt indifferent ones are acceptable Sacrifices; but if this Principle be wanting, our moſt pompous Services avail nothing. We are but ſpiritual Idolaters—we ſacrifice to our own Net—we make an Idol of ourſelves, by making ourſelves, and not CHRIST, the End of our Actions; and therefore ſuch Actions are ſo far from being accepted by GOD, that, according to the Language of one of the Articles of our Church, We doubt not but they have the Nature of Sin, becauſe they ſpring not from an experimental Faith in, and Knowledge of JESUS CHRIST.
Were we not fallen Creatures, we mig… then act, perhaps, from other Principles; but ſince we are fallen out of GOD in Adam, and are reſtored again only by the Death of JESUS CHRIST, the Face of Things is entirely changed, and all we think, ſpeak, or do, is only accepted in, and through him.
Juſtly, therefore, may I, in the
Third and laſt Place, exhort you, to put the Apoſtle's Reſolution in Practice, and beſeech you with him to determine, Not to know any Thing, ſave JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified.
I ſay, determine; for unleſs you ſit down firſt, and count the Coſt, and from a well-grounded Conviction of the Excellency of this above all other Knowledge whatſoever, reſolve to make this your chief Study, your only End, your one thing needful, every frivolous Temptation will draw you aſide from the Purſuit after it.
Your Friends and carnal Acquaintance, and, above all, your grand Adverſary the Devil, will be perſuading you to determine not to know any Thing, but how to lay up Goods for many Years,—to get a Knowledge and Taſte of the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World;—But do you determine not to follow; or be led by them—and the more they perſuade you to know other Things, the more do you determine not to know any Thing, ſave JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified—For, this Knowledge never faileth; But whether they be Riches, they ſhall fail—Whether they be Pomps, they ſhall ceaſe—Whether they be Vanities, they ſhall fade away—But the Knowledge of JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified, abideth for ever.
Whatever, therefore, you are ignorant of, be not ignorant of this—if you know CHRIST, and him crucified, you know enough to make you happy, ſuppoſing you know nothing elſe; and, without this, all your other Knowledge cannot keep you from being everlaſtingly miſerable.
Value not then the Contempt of Friends, which you muſt neceſſarily meet with upon your open Profeſſion to act according to this Determination. For your Maſter, whoſe you are, was deſpiſed before you; and all that will know nothing elſe but JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified, muſt, in ſome Degree or other, ſuffer Perſecution.
It is neceſſary that Offences ſhould come, to try what is in our Hearts, and whether we will be faithful Soldiers of JESUS CHRIST, or not.
Dare we then to confeſs our Bleſſed Maſter before Men, and to ſhine as Lights in the World amidſt a crooked and perverſe Generation? Let us not to be content with following him afar off; for then we ſhall, as Peter did, ſoon deny him; but let us be altogether Chriſtians, and let our Speech, and all our Actions, betray to the World whoſe Diſciples we are, and that we have indeed determined not to know any Thing, ſave JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified. O then! well will it be with us, and happy, unſpeakably happy ſhall we be, even here,—and what is infinitely better, when others that deſpiſed us, ſhall be calling for the Mountains to fall on them, and the Hills to cover them, we ſhall be exalted to ſit down on the Right Hand of GOD, and ſhine as the Sun in the Firmament in the Kingdom of our moſt adorable Redeemer, for ever and ever.
Which GOD of his infinite Mercy grant, &c.