Eighteen Sermons, Sermon 16
SERMON XVI.
God a Believer's Glory.
ISAIAH lx. ver. 19.
And thy God thy Glory.
I LATELY had occaſion to ſpeak on the verſe immediately following that of our text; but when I am reading God's word, I often find it is like being in a tempting garden, when we pluck a little fruit and find it good, we are apt to look after and pluck a little more, only with this difference, the fruit we gather below often hurts the body at the ſame time that it pleaſes the appetite, but when we walk in God's garden, when we gather fruit of the Redeemer's plants, the more we eat the more we are delighted, and the freer we are the more welcome; if any chapter in the bible deſerves this character and deſcription of an evangelical Eden, this does.
It is very remarkable, and I have often told you of it, that all the apoſtles preach firſt the law, and then the goſpel, which finds man in a ſtate of death, points out to him how he is to get life, and then ſweetly conducts him to it. Great and glorious things are ſpoken of the church of God in this chapter; and it ſtruck me very much this evening ever ſince I came into the pulpit, that the great God ſpeaks of the church in the ſingular number: how can that be, when the church is compoſed of ſo many millions gathered out of all nations, languages, and tongues? how is it, that God ſays thy maker and not your maker, that he ſpeaks of the church as though it conſiſted only of one individual perſon? the reaſon of it is this, and is very obvious, that though the church is compoſed of many members, they have but one Head, and they are united by the bond of one Spirit, by whom they have the ſame vital union of the ſoul with God; and therefore it teaches Chriſtians not to ſay to one another, I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, or Cepha, but to behave & live ſo, that the world may know that we all belong to one common Chriſt: God revive, continue, and increaſe this true Chriſtian love among us! Of this church, thus collectively conſidered, united under one head, the bleſſed evangelical prophet thus ſpeaks, Violence ſhall no more be heard in thy land, waſting nor deſtruction within thy borders, but thou ſhalt call thy walls ſalvation, and thy gates, where the magiſtrates aſſemble, and the people go in and out, praiſe. From this text, a great many good and great men have gathered what they call the Millenium, that Jeſus Chriſt is to come and reign a thouſand years on earth, but I muſt acknowledge that I have always rejected a great many good mens poſitive opinion about the ſeaſon when this ſtate commences, and I would warn you all againſt fixing any time; for what ſignifies whether Chriſt comes to reign a thouſand years, or when he comes, ſince you and I are to die very ſoon; and therefore inſtead of puzzling our heads about it, God grant we may live ſo that we may reign with him for ever; and it ſeems to me, that whatſoever is ſaid of this ſtate on earth, that the millenium is to be underſtood in a ſpiritual ſenſe, as an emblem of a glorious, eternal, beatific ſtate in the kingdom of heaven. The ſun ſhall no more be thy light by day, nor for brightneſs ſhall the moon give light unto thee, but the Lord ſhall be unto thee an everlaſting light; and in order to prepare us for that light, and ſhow us the nature of it, while we ſpeak of it may it come with light and power to our ſouls. He adds in our text, and thy God ſhall be thy glory: this is ſpoken to all believers in general, but it is ſpoken to all fearful believers in particular; and I don't know that I can poſſibly cloſe my poor, feeble miniſtration among you here, better than with theſe words; though, God willing, I intend, if he ſhall ſtrengthen me this week, to give you a parting word next Wedneſday morning; and O that what has been my comfort this day in the meditation on this paſſage, may be yours and mine to all eternity. He that hath an ear to hear let him hear what the evangelic prophet ſaith, thy God thy glory.
The Holy Ghoſt ſeems, as it were, particularly fond of this expreſſion; when God publiſhed the ten commandments upon mount Sinai, he prefaced it thus, I am the Lord, and not content with that, he adds, thy God: and the frequency of it, I ſuppoſe, made Luther ſay, that the goſpel deals much in pronouns, in which conſiſts a believer's comfort; but if there were no other argument than this, it would cut up that deſtructive principle by the very root that pretends to tell us that there is no ſuch thing as appropriation in the Bible; that our faith is only to be a rational aſſent to the word of God, without a particular application of that word made to our ſouls: this is as contrary to the goſpel, and to experience of every real ſaint, as light is contrary to darkneſs and heaven to hell. My brethren, I appeal to any of you, what good would it do you, if you had ten thouſand notes wrote in large characters by the fineſt hand that can write in London; ſuppoſe you have got them, as many men have, and it is a very convenient way, that they were put into your little pockets made on the inſide of your coat; ſuppoſe you ſhould ſay, my coat is buttoned, I have all theſe here next my heart: when I come to look at them, I find there is not one note payable to me, they are either all forged, or payable to ſome body elſe, and therefore are good for nothing to me. All the promiſes of the goſpel, all that is ſaid of God and Chriſt is ours. The great queſtion therefore is, whether the God we profeſs to believe in, is our God? not only, whether he is ſo in general, that the devils may ſay; but whether he is our God in particular. The devils can ſay, O God; but the devils cannot ſay, my God: that is a privilege peculiar to God's choſen people, who really believe on the Lord Jeſus Chriſt: and therefore, my brethren, a deiſt cannot ſay, my God, my Chriſt, becauſe he does not believe on that medium by which God becomes our God. That was a noble ſaying of Luther, "I will have nothing to do with an abſolute God;" that is, I will have nothing to do with a God out of Chriſt. Now this is a deiſt's glory: Lord B…lingbroke values himſelf upon it, I am aſtoniſhed at that man's infidelity and cowardice. I don't like thoſe men that leave their writings to be publiſhed after their death: I love to ſee men bold in their writings: I like an honeſt man that will put out his writings while alive, that he may ſee what men can ſay againſt him, and then anſwer them; but it is meer cowardice to leave it to the world to anſwer for it, to ſet us a cavelling after they are got into the grave: ſays he, I will have nothing to do with the God of Moſes; and I ſuppoſe the principles of that deiſt made one pretty near to him aſk as ſoon as the breath was out of his body, where do you think he is gone to another replies, where do you think but to hell. God grant that may not be the portion of any here!
The queſtion then is, how God is our God; thy God. My brethren, our all depends upon it; what ſignifies ſaying, this is mine, and that is mine, if you cannot ſay, God is mine. The beſt thing that God has left in the New Teſtament, is himſelf: I will be their God, that is one of the legacies; and a new heart alſo will I give them, that is another; I will put my laws in their mind, and write them in their hearts, that is another: but all that is good for nothing, comparatively ſpeaking, unleſs God has ſaid at the ſame time, for they are all inſeparable, I will be their God, and they ſhall be my people. Now how ſhall I know that God is my God? I am afraid, ſome people think there is no knowing; well then, if you think ſo, you ſet up a worſhip, and go and erect an altar, and inſtead of receiving God in the ſacrament as yours, go and worſhip an unknown God. I am ſo far from believing, that we cannot know that God is ours, that I am fully perſuaded of it, and would ſpeak it with humility, and I would not chuſe to leave you with a lie in my mouth, that I have known it for about thirty-five years as clear as the ſun is in the meridian, that God is my God. And how ſhall I know it, my brethren? I would aſk you this queſtion, didſt thou ev… feel the want of God to be thy God? Nobody knows God to be their God that did not feel him to be his God in Chriſt: out of Chriſt, God is a conſuming fire. I know there are a great variety of ways in peoples converſions, but ſtill, my brethren, we muſt all feel our miſery, we muſt all feel our diſtance from God, all feel that we are eſtranged from God, that we bring into the world with us a nature that is not agreeable to the law of God, nor poſſibly can be; we cannot be ſaid to believe that God is our God, till we are brought to be reconciled to him through his Son. Can I ſay, a perſon is my friend, till I am reconciled to him? and therefore the goſpel only is the miniſtration of reconciliation. Paul ſaith, We beſeech you as ambaſſadors of Chriſt, that you would be reconciled unto God: this is to be the grand topic of our preaching; we are to beſeech them, and God himſelf turns beggar to his own creatures to be reconciled to him: now this reconciliation is brought about by a poor ſinner's being brought to Jeſus Chriſt; and when once he ſees his enmity and hatred to God, feeling the miſery of departing from him, and being conſcious that he is obnoxious to eternal wrath, flies to Jeſus as to a place of refuge, and expects only a reconciliation thro' the blood of the Lamb; without this, neither you nor I can ſay, God is my God: there is no peace, ſaith my God, to the wicked. The miniſters of Chriſt muſt take care they don't preach an unknown God, and we muſt take care we don't pretend to live upon an unknown God, a God that is not appropriated and brought home to our ſouls by the efficacy of the Spirit. But, my brethren, we cannot ſay, God is our God, unleſs we are in Jeſus Chriſt. Can you ſay, ſuch a one is your father, unleſs you can give proof of it? You may be baſtards, there are many baſtards laid at Chriſt's door. Now, God cannot be my God, at leaſt I cannot know him to be ſo, unleſs he is pleaſed to ſend into my heart the ſpirit of adoption, and to admit me to enjoy familiarity with Chriſt.
My brethren, I told you the other night that the grand controverſy God has with England is for the ſlight put on the Holy Ghoſt. As ſoon as a perſon begins to talk of the work of the Holy Ghoſt, they cry, you are a methodiſt: as ſoon as you ſpeak about the divine influences of the Holy Ghoſt, O! ſay they, you are an enthuſiaſt. May the Lord keep theſe methodiſtical enthuſiaſts amongſt us to the lateſt poſterity. Ignatius, ſuppoſed to have been one of the children that Jeſus took up in his arms, in his firſt Epiſtle (pray read it) wrote ſoon after St. John's death, and we value nothing ſo authentic as what was wrote in the three firſt centuries, bears a noble teſtimony to this truth. When I was performing my firſt exerciſes at Oxford, I uſed to take delight to walk and read it, and could not help noting and putting down from time to time ſeveral remarkable paſſages. In the ſuperſcription of all his Epiſtles, I remember, he ſtiles himſelf Theophoros, i. e. Bearer of God*Deum …erens, inſpired, divine, holy., and believed that thoſe he wrote to, were ſo too. Some body went and told Trajan, that one Ignatius was an enthuſiaſt, that he carried God about him: being brought before the emperor, who, though in other reſpects a good prince, was a cruel enemy to the Chriſtians: but many a good prince does bad things by the influence of wicked counſellors, like our king Henry the Vth, who was brought in to perſecute the poor Lollards, for aſſembling in St. Giles's fields to hear the pure goſpel, by falſe accuſation of being rebels againſt him. Before ſuch a prince was Ignatius brought; ſays Trajan who is this that calls himſelf a bearer of God? ſays Ignatius, I am he, for which he quotes this paſſage, I will dwell in them, and will walk in them, and they ſhall be my ſons and daughters, ſays the Lord Almighty. The emperor was ſo enraged that, in order to cure him of his enthuſiaſm, he ordered him to be devoured by lions; at which Ignatius laughed for joy: O! ſays he, am I going to be devoured? and when his friends came about him, he almoſt danced for gladneſs; when they carried him to execution, he ſmiled, and turning about, ſaid, now I begin to be a martyr of Jeſus Chriſt! I have heard that the lions have leaped from the martyrs, but when they come to me, I will encourage them to fall on me with all their violence. God give you ſuch enthuſiaſm in a trying hour! This is to have God for our God: he that believeth hath the witneſs in himſelf, as it is written in this bleſſed word of God, and I hope it will be the laſt book that I ſhall read. Farewel father, farewel mother, farewel ſun, moon, and ſtars! was the language of one of the Scotch martyrs in king Charles's time, and it is amazing to me that even Mr. Hume (I believe) a profeſſed deiſt, in his Hiſtory of England mentions this as a grand exit, and alſo that ſeraphic ſoul Mr. Hervey, now with God, that the laſt words of the martyr were, Farewel thou precious Bible, thou bleſſed book of God. This is my rock, this is my foundation, it is now about thirty-five years ſince I have begun to read the bible upon my pillow. I love to read this book, but the book is nothing but an account of the promiſes which it contains, and almoſt every word from the beginning to the end of it ſpeaks of a ſpiritual diſpenſation, and the Holy Ghoſt, that unites our ſouls to God, and helps a believer to ſay, my Lord and my God! If you content yourſelves with that, the devil will let you talk of doctrines enough: O you ſhall turn from Arminianiſm to Calviniſm; O you ſhall be orthodox enough, if you will be content to live without Chriſt's living in you. Now when you have got the Spirit, then you may ſay, God is mine. O this is very fine, ſay ſome, every body pretends to the Spirit: and then you may go on as a biſhop once told a nobleman, My Lord, theſe methodiſts, ſay they, do all by the Spirit, ſo if the devil bids them murder any body, they will ſay, the Spirit it bid them do it; and that very biſhop died, how? why horrid! the laſt words he ſpoke were theſe, The battle is fought, the battle is fought, the battle is fought, but the victory is loſt for ever. God grant, you and I may not die with ſuch words as theſe. I hope you and I ſhall die and ſay, The battle is fought, the battle is fought, the battle is fought, I have fought the good fight, and the victory is gained for ever. Thus died Mr. Ralph Erſkine, his laſt words were, Victory, victory, victory! and they that can call God their God, ſhall by and by cry, Victory, victory! and that for ever. God grant, we may all be of that happy number.
If we can call God our God, we ſhall endeavour by the Holy Ghoſt to be like God, we ſhall have his divine image ſtamped upon our ſouls, and endeavour to be followers of that God who is our Father: and this brings in the other part of the text, thy God, thy Glory. What is that? The greateſt honor that a poor believer thinks he can have on earth, is to boaſt that God is his God. When it was propoſd to David, that if he killed an hundred Philiſtines, he ſhould have the king's daughter for his wife, and a very ſorry wife ſhe was, no great gain turned out to him: ſays he, do you think it is a ſmall thing to be the ſon-in-law to a king? a poor ſtrippling as I am here come with my ſhepherd's crook, what! to be married to a king's daughter, do you think that is a ſmall thing? and if David thought it no ſmall thing to be allied to a king by his daughter, what a great thing muſt it be to be allied to the Lord by one ſpirit? I am afraid there are ſome people that were once poor that are now rich, that think it a great thing, that wiſh, O that my family had a coat of arms; ſome people would give a thouſand pounds, I believe, for one. Coats of arms are very proper to make diſtinction in life, a great many people wear coats of arms that their anceſtors got honorably, but they are a diſgrace to them as they wear them on their coaches. But this is our glory, whether we walk or ride, whatever our pedigree may be in life, this is our honor that our God may be our glory. O what manner of love is this, ſaith one, that the Lord doth beſtow on us, that we ſhould be called the ſons of God! born not of the will of man, born not of fleſh, but born from above. O God grant that this may be your glory and mine!
My brethren, if God is our God and our glory, I'll tell you what we ſhall prove it by: whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we ſhould do all to the glory of God. Religion, as I have often told you, turns our whole life into one continued ſacrifice of love to God. As a needle when once touched by a loadſtone, turns to a particular pole, ſo the heart that is touched by the love of God, turns to his God again. I ſhall have occaſion to take notice of it by and by, when I am aboard a ſhip: for as ſoon as I get on board I generally place myſelf in one particular place under the compaſs that hangs over my head, I often look at it by night and by day; when I riſe the needle turns to one point, when I go to bed I find it turns to the ſame point: and often, while I have been looking at it, my heart has been turned to God, ſaying, Lord Jeſus, as that needle touched by the loadſtone, turns to one point, O may my heart touched by the magnet of God's love, turn to him! A great many people think, they never worſhip God but when at church; and a great many are very demure on Lord's days, though many begin to leave that off. I know of no place upon the face of the earth where the Sabbath is kept as it is in Boſton: if a ſingle perſon was to walk in Boſton ſtreets in time of worſhip, he would be taken up; it is not truſted to poor inſignificant men, but the juſtices go out in time of worſhip, they walk with a white wand, and if they catch any perſon walking in the ſtreets, they put them under a black rod. O! the great miſchiefs the poor pious people have ſuffered lately through the town's being diſturbed by the ſoldiers! When the drums were beating before the houſe of Dr. Sawell, one of the holieſt men that ever was, when he was ſick and dying, on the ſabbath day, by his meeting, where the noiſe of a ſingle perſon was never heard before, and he begged that for Chriſt's ſake they would not beat the drum; they damned and ſaid, that they would beat to make him worſe; this is not acting for the glory of God; but when a ſoul is turned to God, every day is a ſabbath, every meal is a ſpiritual refreſhment, and every ſentence he ſpeaks, ſhould be a ſermon; and whether he ſtays abroad or at home, whether he is on the exchange, or locked up in a cloſet, he can ſay, O God, thou art my God!
Now, my dear friends, can you, dare you ſay, that your God is your glory, and do you aim at glorifying the Lord your God: if your God is your glory, then ſay, O God forbid that I ſhould glory ſave in the croſs of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I am crucified to the world. What ſay you to that now? don't talk of God's being your glory, if you don't love his croſs. If God is our glory, we ſhall glory not only in doing, but in ſuffering for him; we ſhall glory in tribulation, and count ourſelves moſt highly honored when we are called to ſuffer moſt for his great name ſake. I might enlarge, but you may eaſily judge by my poor feeble voice this laſt week, that neither my ſtrength of voice, or body, will permit me to be long to-night, and yet I will venture to give you your laſt parting ſalutation; and though I have been diſſuaded from getting up to preach this night, yet I thought as my God was my glory, I ſhould glory in preaching till I died. O that God may be all our glory! All our own glory fades away, there is nothing will be valuable at the great day but this, Thou art my God, and thou art my glory. It was a glorious turn that good Mr. Shepherd of Bradford mentions in one of his ſermons, where he repreſents Jeſus Chriſt as coming to judgment ſeated upon his throne, in a ſermon preached before ſome miniſters. Chriſt calls one miniſter to him, Pray what brought you into the church? O, ſays he, Lord, there was a living in the family, and I was preſented to it becauſe it was a family living: ſtand thou by, ſays Chriſt. A ſecond comes, What didſt thou enter into the church for? O Lord, ſays he, I had a fine elocution, I had pretty parts, and I went into the church to ſhew my oratory and my parts: ſtand thou by, thou haſt thy reward. A third was called, And what brought you into the church? Lord, ſays he, thou knoweſt all things, thou knoweſt that I am a poor creature, vile and miſerable, and unworthy, and helpleſs, but I appeal to thee my glory, thou ſitteſt upon the throne, that thy glory and the good of ſouls brought me there: Chriſt immediately ſays, Make room, men, make room, angels, and bring up that ſoul to ſit near me on my throne. Thus ſhall it be done to all that make God their glory here below. Glorify God on earth, and he will glorify you in heaven. Come, ye bleſſed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, ſhall be your portion: and if ſo, Lord God almighty make us content to be vilified whilſt here, make us content to be deſpiſed while below, make us content to have evil things ſpoken of us, all for Chriſt's ſake, yet a little while, and Chriſt will roll away the ſtone: and the more we are honored by his grace to ſuffer, the more we ſhall be honored in the kingdom of heaven. O that thought! O that bleſſed thought! O that ſoul tranſporting thought! it is enough to make us leap into a fiery furnace; in this ſpirit, in this temper, may God put every one of us.
If there be any of you that have not yet called God your God, may God help you to do ſo to-night. When I was reaſoning within myſelf, whether I ſhould come up, or whether it was my duty or not? I could not help thinking, who knows but God will bleſs a poor feeble worm to night. I remember, a dear friend ſent me word after I was gone to Georgia, Your laſt ſermon at the Tabernacle was bleſſed to a particular perſon; I heard from that perſon to-day, and who knows but ſome may come to day, and ſay, I will go and hear what the babler has to ſay; who knows but curioſity may be over-ruled for good? who knows but thoſe that have ſerved the luſt of the fleſh and the pride of life for their god, may now take the Lord to be their God? O! if I could but ſee this, I think I could drop down dead for you.
My dear Chriſtians, will you not help me to-night, you that can go and call God your God? go and beg of God for me, pray to heaven for me, do pray for thoſe that are in the gall of bitterneſs, that have no God, no Chriſt to go to, and if they were to die tonight, would be damned forever. O poor ſinner, where is your glory then; where is your purple and fine linen then? your purple robes will be turned into purple fire, and inſtead of calling God your God, will be damn'd with the devil: O think of your danger! O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord! If you never was awakened before, may the arrows of God, ſteep'd in the blood of Jeſus Chriſt, reach your hearts now! Think how you live at enmity with God, think of your danger every day and every hour, your danger of dropping into hell; think how your friends in glory will leave you, and may this conſideration, under the influence of the Holy Ghoſt, excite you to chuſe God for your God! Tho' the ſun is going down, tho' the ſhadow of the evening is coming on, God is willing, O man, God is willing, O woman, to be a ſinner's God, he has found out a way whereby he can be reconciled to you. I remember, when I ſaw a nobleman condemned to be hanged, the Lord High Stewart told him, that however he was obliged to paſs ſentence on him, and did not know that juſtice would be ſatisfied but by the execution of the law in this world, yet there might be a way whereby juſtice might be ſatisfied and mercy take place in another: when I heard his Lorſhip ſpeak, I wiſhed that he had not only ſaid, there might be a way, but that he had found out the way wherein God could be juſt and yet a poor murderer coming to Jeſus Chriſt ſhould be pardoned.
You that can call God yours, God help you from this moment to glorify you more and more: and if God be your God and your glory, I am perſuaded, if the love of God abounds in your hearts, you will be willing on every occaſion to do every thing to promote his honor and glory, and therefore you will be willing at all times to aſſiſt and help as far as lies in your power to keep up places of worſhip, to promote his glory in the ſalvation and converſion of ſinners; and I mention this becauſe there is to be a collection this night; I would have choſe, if poſſible, to have evaded this point, but as this Tabernacle has been repaired, and as the expence is pretty large, and as I would chuſe to leave every thing unincumbered, I told my friends, I would undertake to make a collection, that every thing might be left quite clear: remember, it is not for me, but for yourſelves, I told you on Wedneſday how matters were; I am now going a thirteenth time over the water on my own expence, and you ſhall know at the great day what little, very little aſſiſtance I have had from thoſe who owed, under God, their ſouls to my being here: but this is for the place where you are to meet, and where I hope God will meet you, when I am toſſing on the water, when I am in a foreign clime. I think I can ſay, thy glory, O God calls me away, and as I am going towards ſixty years of age, I ſhall make what diſpatch I can, and I hope, if I am ſpared to come back, that I ſhall hear that ſome of you are gone to heaven, or are nearer heaven than you were. I find there is 70l. arrears; I hope you will not run away, if you can ſay God is my glory, you will not puſh one upon another, as though you would looſe yourſelves in the croud, and ſay no body ſees me; but does not God Almighty ſee you? I hope you will be ready to communicate, and when I am gone that God will be with you: as many of you will not hear me on Wedneſday morning. O may this be your prayer, O for Jeſus Chriſt's ſake, in whoſe name I preach, in whoſe ſtrength I deſire to come up, and for whoſe honor I deſire to be ſpent, O do put up a word for me, it will not coſt you much time, it will not keep you a moment from your buſineſs; O Lord Jeſus Chriſt thou art his God! and, Lord Jeſus Chriſt let him be thy glory! If I die in the waters, I ſhall go by water to heaven; if I land at the Orphan Houſe, I hope it will be a means to ſettle a foundation for ten thouſand perſons to be inſtructed; and if I go by the continent, as I intend to do, I hope God will enable me to preach Chriſt; and if I return again my life will be devoted to your ſervice. You excuſe me, I cannot ſay much more, affection works, and I could heartily wiſh, and I beg it as a favour, when I come to leave you, that you will excuſe me from a particular parting with you; take my public farewell; I will pray for you when in the cabin, I will pray for you when ſtorms and tempeſts are about me; and this ſhall be my prayer for the dear people of the Tabernacle, for the dear people of the Chapel, for the dear people of London, O God, be thou their God! and grant, that their God may be their glory. Even ſo, Lord Jeſus! Amen.