Eighteen Sermons, Sermon 8
SERMON VIII.
The Lord our Light.
ISAIAH lx. ver. 19, 20.
The ſun ſhall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightneſs ſhall the moon give … thee, but the Lord ſhall be unto thee an everlaſting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy ſun ſhall no more go down, neither ſhall thy moon withdraw itſelf, for the Lord ſhall be thine everlaſting light, and the days of thy mourning ſhall be ended.
UPON reading theſe words, I cannot help thinking of what the royal Pſalmiſt ſaid, Glorious things are ſpoken of thee, O city of God. Selah. I am afraid, my dear hearers, that even believers themſelves, who have taſted of the grace of God, reflect not and meditate as they ought, on the glorious and amazing felicity they are called by the Spirit of God to experience in this life. We content ourſelves too much with our hopes, and if we attain to a good hope through grace, we are ready to think we have got up to the laſt ſtep of the goſpel ladder, and have nothing more to do but to reſt in that hope, without ever attaining to an abiding, full aſſurance of faith. If we would examine the ſcriptures, and not chuſe to bring them down to us, but beg of God to raiſe our hearts up to them, we ſhall find the believer is made partaker of the grace of life, as well as an heir of it; the one is on earth, the other in heaven, and one is only a prelibation of the other. This bleſſed prophet Iſaiah, ſpeaking of the privileges of the children of God, ſaith, Eve hath not ſeen, nor ear heard▪ neither hath it entered into the heart of … conceive the things that God hath … (that even here below) for thoſe that love … ▪ God grant that we may be of that happy number! Hence, like an evangeliſt, the prophet draws aſide the veil, and as one inſpired by the ſpirit of God, and filled with the rays of divine light, gives us a tranſporting view of the goſpel ſtate, and the glory which the church militant enjoys below, before its triumphant ſtate above.
The text, probably, refers to the great change that ſhould be made in the affairs of the Jews after their captivity, how wonderfully God would appear for them, after their harps had been long hanging on the willows, and they could make no other anſwer to their inſulting foes than this mournful one, How can we ſing the Lord's ſong in a ſtrange land? The goſpel is, doubtleſs, glad tidings of great joy; and however the people of God might be encouraged to hope that the time would come, when they ſhould tread on the necks of their enemies, the prophet teaches them to look further, and lets them know that their happineſs was not to conſiſt in any external created good, but in a larger poſſeſſion of the graces and comforts of the Holy Ghoſt. So that this chapter ſpeaks not only of a temporal deliverance and reſt, which they ſhould enjoy after their trouble, but a ſpiritual reſt, which, by faith, they ſhould enter into here, as the earneſt and pledge of the reſt and enjoyment of the better world hereafter. As we know no more of heaven than is diſcovered by the eye of faith, for even St. Paul acknow…es, that the things he ſaw were … obſervable that heaven in ſcripture is … to us more by what it is not, than by what it is. So in the words of the text, Thy ſun ſhall no more go down, neither ſhall thy moon withdraw itſelf, for the Lord ſhall be thine everlaſting light, and the days of thy mourning ſhall be ended. Here are three negatives, and but one poſitive, namely, the Lord ſhall be thy everlaſting light, which is a beautiful alluſion to the ſun, that ſhould teach us to ſpiritualize natural things; and if we feared God, and lived near to him as we ought, there is no object of our bodily eyes but might improve our ſpiritual ſight. You cannot ſuppoſe the prophet meant a time ſhould come, when the ſun ſhould not literally go down, that there ſhould not be night and day as now; God indeed permitted a man once to ſay, ſun, ſtand thou ſtill, and it was done; but, perhaps, there never will be any ſuch thing again till the ſun is removed from its ſtation, and the moon forſake her orbit, and be turned into blood. The word muſt therefore be underſtood in a figurative ſenſe; and then comparing ſpiritual things with ſpiritual, it muſt certainly import, that Jeſus Chriſt, the Sun of Righteouſneſs, ſhall be what the ſun is to the viſible world, that is, the light and life of all his people; I ſay, all the people of God. You ſee now, the ſun ſhines on us all; I never heard that the ſun ſaid, Lord, I will not ſhine on the Preſbyterians, I will not ſhi… … the Independents, I will not ſhine on … called Methodiſts, thoſe great … the ſun never ſaid yet, I will not … the Papiſts; the ſun ſhines on all, which ſhows that Jeſus Chriſt's love is open to all that are made willing by the Holy Ghoſt to accept of him; and therefore it is ſaid, the ſun of righteouſneſs ſhall ariſe with healing under his wings. If you were all up this morning before the ſun aroſe at five o'clock, how beautiful was his firſt appearance! how pleaſant to behold the flowers opening to the riſing ſun! I appeal to you yourſelves, when you were looking out at window, or walking about, or opening your ſhop, if in a ſpiritual frame, whether you did not ſay, Ariſe thou ſun of righteouſneſs with healing under thy wings, on me. All that the natural ſun is to the world, Jeſus Chriſt is, and more, to his people without the ſun we ſhould have no corn, or fruit of any kind: what a dark place would the world be without the ſun, and how dark would the world be without Jeſus Chriſt; and as the ſun does really communicate its rays to the earth, the plants, and to all this lower creation, ſo the Son of God does really communicate his life and power to every new created ſoul, otherwiſe Chriſt is but a painted ſun; and is Chriſt nothing but a painted Chriſt to us, while we receive heat and benefit by the Holy Ghoſt, on account of the virtue of his blood? Sometimes the ſun ſhines brighter than at other times, and does not always appear alike; clouds intervene and interrupt its rays; ſo it is between a renewed ſoul and the Lord Jeſus, the ſun of righteouſneſs; O my brethren … believe you know it by fatal experien… … but your hand now, when the ſun … meridian, between it and you, and … breadth of that you can keep the ſun from you, ah! how very little earth will keep off thy heart from Jeſus Chriſt! It was a very excellent ſaying of one of the antients, that God never leaves a perſon till he firſt leaves him. Some people think God does ſo of his ſovereignty, but I am apt to think when the ſun ſhines, we ſhall find ſome people have taken up with ſomething ſhort of the ſun of righteouſneſs; and I believe there are times, when the poor believer thinks his ſun will quite go down, and riſe no more: he loſes his reliſh, his taſte and evidence of divine things; not only are the rays intercepted for a while, but doubts and fears, a dreadful cloud of them, come on. Though I hold with a full aſſurance of faith, yet I am of opinion that 'tis not always in a like exerciſe; and therefore pray that doubting people will not take hold of that, and ſay, Bleſſed be God, I am in a doubting ſtate, and I am content. The Lord deliver you from a mind to ſtay in priſon, and prevent the devil from locking the door upon you, and keeping you there as long as he can. The Lord help you to come; come, come, and break out of priſon, that you may know how pleaſant it is to behold the Sun, and praiſe his name.
Sometimes, inſtead of the ſun there is only moon-light, which ſhews the difference a believer feels in his ſoul, both in relation to grace and comfort. Both ſun and moon give light, but O how far ſuperior is the one to the other: the moon gives a very faint, uncertain light, waxes and wanes, and at beſt is almoſt nothing when compared with the light, and the bleſſed reviving heat of the ſun. Hence, my brethren, this world ſometimes is a world of mourners: it is ſaid, that the days of our mourning ſhall be ended; for if the text refers to the future ſtate, as no doubt it does, it means that the days of believers here below are very often mournful, trying, and afflicting, though they end in joy, as our Lord intimates in his opening his goſpel-ſermon almoſt with theſe very words, Bleſſed are they that mourn, for they ſhall be comforted. Some, perhaps, may think it is an odd kind of bleſſing; and though worldly people are fond of the fifth of Matthew, and wonder that Methodiſts and goſpel-miniſters do not preach oftener on that chapter, I am apt to believe, when you come to preach and open that word, they will not like that chapter any more than any other, becauſe they are for a joyful Chriſt, and not for any mourning at all. Do you know God in Chriſt? let me tell you, the more you are acquainted with him, the more your ſouls will be kept in a mourning ſtate. A mournful ſtate!—O, ſay you, people will mourn before they are converted.—Ah, that they will.—I don't love to hear of converſions without any ſecret mourning; I ſeldom ſee ſuch ſouls eſtabliſhed. I have heard of a perſon who was in company once with fourteen miniſters of the goſpel, ſome of whom were eminent ſervants of Chriſt, and yet not one of them could tell the time God firſt manifeſted himſelf to their ſoul. Zaccheus's was a very quick converſion, perhaps not a quarter of an hour's conviction: this I mention, that we may not condemn one another. We do not love the pope, becauſe we love to be popes ourſelves, and ſet up our own experience as a ſtandard to others. Thoſe that had ſuch a converſion as the jaylor, or the Jews: O, ſay you, we do not like to hear you talk of ſhaking over hell, we love to hear of converſion by the love of God; while others that were ſo ſhaken, as Mr. Bolton and other eminent men were, may ſay, you are not chriſtians becauſe you had not the like terrible experience. You may as well ſay to your neighbour, you have not had a child, for you were not in labour all night. The queſtion is, whether a real child is born, not how long was the preceding pain, but whether it was productive of a new birth, and whether Chriſt has been formed in your hearts; it is the birth proves the reality of the thing.
Some allow that there is mourning before, but no mourning after converſion; pray who ſays ſo? none but an Antinomian, a rank Antinomian; and when you hear a perſon ſay, that after converſion you will have no mourning, you may be aſſured that perſon is at beſt walking by moon-light; he does not walk by the ſun, he has got ſome doctrine in his head, but very little grace, I am afraid, in his heart. How! how! my brethren, not mourn after we are converted; why, till then there is no true mourning at all. The damned in hell are mourning now, they put on their mourning as ſoon as they get there. How am I tormented in this flame, ſays Dives; and Cain, my puniſhment is greater than I can bear. How many worldly people break their hearts for the loſs of the world: they cannot keep their uſual equipage, nor do as they would; and come not to worſhip on Sunday, becauſe they cannot appear ſo fine as formerly they did: this is a ſorrow of the world that worketh death; but there is a bleſſed, a more evangelical mourning, which is the habitual, bleſſed ſtate and frame of a converted ſoul. How ſtrong the expreſſion, They ſhall look on him whom they have pierced, and ſhall mourn: how ſhall they mourn? as one mourneth for a firſtborn, an only child. Have you ever been called to bury a child? is there any tender mother here? were you merry directly after the child was dead? no, perhaps till this very day, you continually call to remembrance your little one and ſhed a tear; every thing relating to it, cauſes the repetition of your ſorrow. When a poor believer is acquainted with Jeſus Chriſt, he mourns for having crucified the Son of God, and you will mourn for the ſame ſin after converſion as before. Surely, ſays ſome, I mourn for my ſins I committed before my converſion. I do not know whether you do or no, but I know you ſhould. O, ſays David, Remember not againſt me the ſins of my youth, in a Pſalm which was wrote when he was an old man; and Paul ſays, I was a blaſphemer and injurious, and therefore not worthy to be called an apoſtle, becauſe I perſecuted the church of God; and this after he had been wrapped up to the third heaven. See Mary ruſhing into the houſe, waſhing her Lord's feet with her tears, and wiping them with her hair: I don't ſuppoſe ſhe was dreſſed as our ladies are now; they did not make ſuch apes of themſelves; but her hair was very fine in an honeſt way: though ſhe breaks the allibaſter box of ointment given her, perhaps by ſome poor ſilly creature that would die by her frowns, and live upon her ſmiles, ſee her at the feet of her Saviour, and Jeſus Chriſt anſwers for her, ſome having thought ſhe was profuſe, that having had much forgiven, ſhe loved much. The more the love of God is manifeſted, the more it will melt the ſoul down: I appeal to you chriſtians, whether the ſweeteſt times you ever enjoyed, were not thoſe when you were much melted at the ſight of a crucified Saviour; when you could ſay, Lord, thou forgaveſt me, I fell it, I know it, but I cannot forgive myſelf; this will always be the effect of an engenuous mind; and a perſon that is really converted will thus mourn, and if you do not know this, you may be aſſured you know nothing ſavingly of Jeſus Chriſt. You may go and hear this and that warning, and you are right to gather honey from every flower, but you have not got within the inner court, but are yet without. God give you to ſee your folly herein.
A true believer will mourn over his corruptions: I wonder what they can think, who ſuppoſe they have no corruptions. I remember a poor creature of Rhode-Iſland, who looked the moſt like the old Puritans I ever ſaw, when I was talking with him, and ſaid, ſome people ſay there are ſome men that have no ſin; he ſaid, if you ſend ſuch a man to me, I will pay his charges even from England and back again. I have often learned ſomething from the difference of glaſſes: you look into the common glaſſes, and ſee yourſelves there ſo fine, and admire your perſon, dreſs, &c. but when you view yourſelves through a microſcope, how many worms are diſcovered in that fine ſkin of yours, enough to make you aſhamed of the vermin and filth that is ſeated there: ſo it is in faith, that glaſs would ſhow you ſo much corruption cleaving to every action of your lives, that would make you ſinſick, and mourn that you have known God ſo long, and are like him ſo little. What ſays Paul? Who ſhall deliver me from the body of this death? Notwithſtanding he knew that there is no condemnation to them that are in Chriſt Jeſus, yet cries out, O wretched man that I am! I ſhould have thought, O happy man that thou art! formerly a perſecutor, and now a preacher; a man that has been honored ſo much above every man in planting churches, which is the higheſt honor a man can have under heaven; here is a man that hath been wrapt up to the third heaven,—what of him? O wretched man that I am, who ſhall deliver me from this body of ſin and death? Do you think that it was only a little qualm of conſcience? no, it was the habitual temper of his heart. Some people are much humbled by fits and ſtarts, but Paul felt this daily: many things that we are not concerned about, Paul looked upon them as ſuch that made his heart ach, becauſe he thought he could not live near enough to God. He not only watched to do good, but he watched how he did that good; and nature was ſo mixed with it, that he ſaid, I cannot do as I would do, I would have ſerved God like an angel, but I find myſelf to be a poor ſinner after all; and if we are likeminded with Paul, we ſhall mourn over our corruptions, we ſhall mourn over our hidden ſins that none know but God and ourſelves. It is a very dangerous thing to truſt goſpel-goſſips, who being ſtrangers to themſelves, hear with wonder and contempt, and often betray; however, a judicious friend, into whoſe boſom we can pour out our ſouls, and tell our corruptions as well as our comforts, is a very great privilege. When our corruptions do not drive us from Chriſt, but drive us to him, it is the greateſt bleſſing to commune with Chriſt on this ſide heaven: and, my brethren, if your hearts are right with God, you will ſee ſuch things as nobody elſe could think of. A good woman who was charmed with Dr. Manton, ſaid, O, ſir, you have made an excellent ſermon to-day, I wiſh I had your heart; do you ſay ſo, ſaid he, good woman, you had better not wiſh for it, for if you had it, you would wiſh for your own again. The beſt of men ſee themſelves in the worſt light.
How many thouſand things are there that make you mourn here below! who can tell the tears that godly parents ſhed for ungodly children! O you young folks, you don't know what plague your children may be to you! O they are pretty things while young, like rattleſnakes and alligators, which I have ſeen when little, but put them in your boſom and you will find they are dangerous. How many are there in the world that would wiſh, if it were lawful, that God had written them childleſs: there is many a poor creature that makes his father's heart ach. I once aſked a godly widow, madam, how is your ſon; ſhe turned aſide with tears, and ſaid, ſir, he is no ſon to me now. What in the world can come up to that! here, ſays one, I have bred up my children, I cannot charge myſelf with educating them wrong, though few parents can ſay that, for many parents lead them into the paths of death, and ſo are murderers of their own children, and by their manner of education help to damn them for ever; but if you can ſay, I have done all I could, and yet, O my God, my children are worſe than any other peoples; this is a dreadful ſtate indeed; and the more you mourn, the more they laugh at you; O theſe are my godly parents. They increaſe their trouble, like Dr. Horneck's ſon, who ſaid, There is not a poſt in my father's houſe but ſtinks of piety. I once ſaw a man that was awakened at the Orphan-houſe, fall down and throw himſelf on one of their beds, crying out, O, ſir, what will become of my poor grey headed father, who knows nothing of this birth! It is a difficulty with ſome to know how to behave towards unconverted relations; if you don't go to them, they will ſay you are preciſe; if you do, and are faithful, they will ſoon ſhow you they have enough of your company: this ſends a godly perſon home mourning; and then there comes a thought, ſhall I ſpeak to them any more, or let them go to the devil. This is not like parting from your friends by death, but burying them alive: when dead we know we muſt ſubmit, but to part from friends, thoſe we loved, and thought to have lived with till we came to heaven, is mournful indeed.
Moreover, the poor ſtate of the church makes many a miniſter and cloſe-walker with God to weep over the deſolations of the ſanctuary, and to mourn for thoſe that will not mourn for themſelves: thus our Lord wept over Jeruſalem, O Jeruſalem, Jeruſalem, how often would I have gathered thy children, as a hen gathereth her chickens, but it is over with thee now; the decree is gone forth, and Jeruſalem ſhall ſuffer.
Brethren, the time will fail and therefore I leave it to you to ſupply more caſes; for if I was to preach till to-morrow morning, I doubt not but a thouſand here would ſay, there are many things you have not mentioned yet. You know the ſtate of your own hearts, and the many particular trials in your own caſe; and you may alſo know, though your trial ſeems over, it is only changed: but let it be obſerved, the day of your mourning ſhall be ended; mind, it is but days, though ſometimes made very ſad ones indeed, by the neglect and ingratitude of thoſe who have made the people of God ſerve them with rigour, as though all the world was made for them, as well as their incapacity to help themſelves, by poverty, pain, ſore ſickneſſes, and of long continuance. This has been, and is the lot of many a child of God; bleſſed be ſovereign mercy 'tis but a few days. An end ſhall arrive, and that end ſhall be happy, when death, the believer's friend, ſhall come with an angel's face, to diſmiſs them from all their ſin and ſorrow. When I was laſt at Briſtol, I could not help remembring good Mr. Middleton, who uſed, you know to have the gout very much, and in that cloſet were kept his crutches: now, thought I, he needs them no more, the days of his mourning are ended, and ſo ſhall ours by and by too, when we ſhall no longer want our ſpiritual crutches or armour, but ſhall ſay to the helmet of hope, the ſhield of faith, I have no more need of thee; and the all-prevailing weapon of prayer be changed into ſongs of endleſs praiſe; when God himſelf ſhall be our everlaſting light, a ſun that ſhall never go down more, but ſhall beam forth his infinite and eternal love in a beatific ſtate for ever. The proſpect of this made one of the fathers cry out, O glory! how great! how great! what art thou? a friend aſking him what he ſaw? he anſwered, I ſee the glory of the only begotten Son of God. And if a ſight of Chriſt on earth is ſo great, as could make good Mr. Wardrobe, an excellent Scotch miniſter ſay, after he was given over, ſtarting up in the arms of an excellent friend who told it me, in a rapture of joy, crowns! crowns! crowns of glory ſhall adorn this head of mine e'er long! and ſtretching up, added, palms! palms! palms ſhall e'er long fill theſe hands of mine! and ſo ſweetly fell aſleep in Jeſus: what a pleaſing, awful trial is that for an affectionate friend! So our dear ſiſter, who is to be buried to-morrow night at Tottenham-court, talked with her friends for an hour or two, and took leave of her huſband and children, and ſaid, Now come, ye heavenly chariots! We ſhall thank God then for all our loſſes, croſſes, and diſappointments; and I believe thoſe things which we mourn for moſt, and puts us moſt to the trial, will give us moſt comfort when we come to die: God ſhall be our everlaſting light, as well as the days of our mourning ſhall be ended.
Take care, don't be ſecure, pray don't think the day of your mourning to be ended yet: you may put off mourning for your friends, but may have freſh cauſe of mourning for your ſouls; whilſt you remember that holy mourning is conſiſtent with holy walking, following the Lord in all his ways. You have often heard me ſpeak of one of our miniſters, who was not one of your fine velvet mouths, that ſaid once in the pulpit, As ſure as you ſee the ſun ſhine on my breaſt, which at that time it did, ſo ſure does the Spirit of God dwell in the ſouls of true believers. How often has he told you, I am for having you have godly ſorrow, I wiſh your hearts were full of it, becauſe it will end in everlaſting joy. Comfort, my brethren, one another with theſe things the day of your mourning ſhall ſoon be ended for ever.
But what am I to ſay? I apprehend I ſhall grow forgetful to-night;—I have ſpoken ſo much to ſaints, I am afraid I ſhall have but little time to ſpeak to ſinners: I mean, I have taken ſo much time up in ſpeaking to you that know God, that I have but little to ſpeak to you that know him not. How different you ſtate, poor hearts! poor hearts! my ſoul mourns for you; my blood, whilſt I am ſpeaking, is ready to curdle in my veins. The ſeraphic Mr. Hervey, when he did me that honor to ſo-journ under my roof, ſaid, My dear friend, it is an awful thing when we ſee an unconverted man die, and his eyes cloſed, to think, that that poor ſoul will never ſee one gleam of comfort or life more; to have a ſight of God, of Chriſt, and the heavenly angels and ſaints; but to ſee what the rich man ſaw, a God they want; to ſee Lazarus, whom he would not permit to be ſeen at his door, now taken particular notice of in heaven; and to ſee himſelf now a beggar in hell. The Lord help you to think! O think how ſoon your ſun will go down, and even your bodies will feel damnation, not only in reſpect to pain, but loſs.
Biſhop Uſher's opinion was, and I heartily concur in it, that thoſe who value themſelves moſt on their beauty and dreſs, and do not love God on earth, will be moſt deformed in hell, and their bodies ſuffer proportionally there. There is no dreſſing in hell, nothing but fire and brimſtone there, and the wrath of God always awaiting on thee, O ſinner, whoever thou art, man or woman. It was a fine ſaying of Maclane, who was executed ſome years ago, when the cap was pulling over his eyes, muſt I never ſee the light of yon ſun any more; Lord Jeſus Chriſt, thou ſun of righteouſneſs, ariſe with healing under thy wings on my departing ſoul! May the Lord Jeſus Chriſt do that for us all! When you are damned, the days of your mourning will be but at their beginning; there is no end of your mourning in hell. There is but one ſong, if it may be called ſo, in hell, to wit, that of Dives, which will be always repeating, How am I tormented in this flame! Conſider this, ye that forget God; and O that God may bleſs you to-night with godly, ſorrow. Believers, pray for them: Lord help you, ſinners, to pray for your vile ſelves. Some may think, what do you cry for? why, I cry for you. Perhaps you will ſay as a wicked one did to a poor woman in Scotland, when thouſands were awakened there; ſeeing her weep, he ſaid, what do you weep for? for this people, ſays ſhe; weep for yourſelf, ſays he; ſhe replied, I do; but what is my ſoul, to all theſe poor ſouls! O that miniſters may never riſe up in judgment againſt you: O may Moſes, in the hand of the Spirit, make you mourn! may the love of God make you cry! may you not go home to-night without an arrow ſteeped in the blood of Chriſt. It was wonderful what a good woman awaking thought ſhe ſaw written over her head, O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord! May every faithful ſoul be made to hear it; to awake, ariſe from their ſleep in ſin. The ſun is going down, & death may put an end to all tonight: the lord help you to come though it is the eleventh hour: O that you would fly, fly this night to Chriſt, leſt God deſtroy you for ever. Jeſus ſtands ready with open arms to receive you whom he has firſt pricked to the heart, and made you cry out, What ſhall I do to be ſaved! he will then make you believe in his name, that you may be ſaved: God grant this may be the caſe of all here to-night. Amen.