SERMON XXV
"And what is the exceeding greatness of his power
to us-ward, who believe, according to the working of the might of his power,
which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at
his own right hand in the heavenly places" - Ver. 19, 20.
We are handling of this, the 'exceeding greatness of the
power' which God in this life putteth forth toward believers. I have proved at
large that the power here extended toward believers is not to be restrained
only to the resurrection at the latter day, - that he will raise up our mortal
bodies, as he raised up Christ's body unto glory, - but that he speaks of the
power of God in this life, as the same Apostle expresseth it, chap. in. 20,
'according to the power which worketh in us,' that worketh at present; that is
the power he here meaneth.
The power of God is either seen in the first
work of turning us to God, and that is mainly and eminently in the Apostle's
eye; for, saith he, in a coherence to these words in the second chapter, ver.
1, 'And you who were dead in sins and trespasses' (it must have a verb) 'hath
he quickened,' speaking of their conversion ; and so at the 5th and 6th verses
you find it plainly expressed.
Or else this power is shewed toward us in
continuing the work of faith; and it is hard to say in which more power is
shown and spent.
I have made entrance upon the first, as an instance and a
demonstration enough of all the power that works afterward; for we are kept by
the power of God unto salvation, so saith the Apostle.
The power that God
sheweth, the 'exceeding greatness of his power,' I propounded for the method of
handling it these two things - The former, That there is an exceeding greatness
of power shewn in it. The second, That it holdeth proportion with that power
which wrought in Jesus Christ when he was raised from the dead.
For the
former, for the demonstration that an exceeding greatness of power is shewn
in working faith, and in quickening us at our first conversion unto God ; that
power, I said, was shewn in two things - Either, first, (I went by degrees in
it,) in what he doth for a believer, though not upon a believer; the word will
not only bear what is done in him, but what is done for him, and done toward
him. As the throwing out of Satan out of a man, as I showed out of Luke xii.,
is a work that is done for a Christian; but it is not a work so much upon him
as upon Satan that is cast out. ' Now,' saith he, John xii. 31, 'is the
judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out;' he
speaks, when the world should be converted to Christ, that conversion is called
the judgment of the world; as in John xvi. 11, 'He shall convince the world of
judgment,' that is, of that holiness and righteousness which they ought to take
up and walk in ; and ho addeth, 'for the prince of this world is judged.' That
this is done by a strong hand, I shewed in the last discourse: 'If I by the
finger of God cast out devils.' The finger of God must go to it.
Then,
secondly, if you come to the work that he doth in us, it ariseth not only
to a greatness of power, but to an exceeding greatness of power. I paralleled
it with the first creation, in which there was a greatness of power shewn;
there was a making of something, yea, of all things out of nothing, between
nothing and the least thing there is an infinite disproportion. But when he
comes to work upon the heart of a man that is dead by nature in sins and
trespasses, he doth not only find nothing to work upon, but he findeth all
things against him, so that his power is not simply drawn out in creating grace
out of nothing, but in subduing and destroying of corruption; and so I shewed
you the Scripture expresseth it. There is not only nothing to help or further,
but there is all things to oppose. I shewed this at large in the last
discourse, and how to subdue that which opposeth there is required a greatness
of power.
But then, in the second place, there is an exceeding greatness of
power, there is a doubling of power. There is not only a power to destroy what
is opposite, - as I shewed both upon the understanding, the will, and
affections, - but there is a putting in and a creating of a new principle, a
contrary principle, maugre all the opposition that the heart of man makes
against it. And so, because there is a doubling of power, there is an exceeding
greatness of power cometh to be spent in this work.
In handling of this I
shewed that the very creation itself of the new creature was of a higher kind,
as the Scripture expresseth it, than the first creation was; because that grace
is the most excellent of all God's creatures. James i. 18, speaking of the work
of conversion, and of God's begetting us again, 'Of his own will,' saith he,
'he hath begotten us.' And what followeth? 'That we should be a kind of
first-fruits;' but, as I shewed you in the last discourse, the eminent
first-fruits of all his creatures, the choicest of all; for so doth the grace
given by regeneration make a man.
And that it was a higher creation than
the first, the putting in of new Principles thus into the heart, I shewed you
by the phrase that is used, Col. ii. 11, where he calleth the sanctification of
a sinner the circumcising the heart, which, as in Deuteronomy, is that we may
love God. He calleth this new work in us sinners a circumcision made without
hands. I observed this upon it, that that phrase, 'made without hands,' is used
only of three things, whereof grace or the new creature is one. It is used of
that glory which God will put upon his saints and children hereafter in heaven;
which all the world must acknowledge is a work transcending that first creation
: 'We have a house not made with hands,' saith he, 2 Cor. v. 1. It is used,
secondly, of that framing the body of Christ, the human nature of Christ, both
body and soul, and uniting it to the Godhead; that human nature, so united, is
called a tabernacle made without hands, Heb. ix. 11. And then, thirdly, here,
in this Col. ii. 11, he calleth the sanctification of a sinner, and working
holiness and grace in him, circumcising the heart to love God; he calleth it a
circumcision made without hands.
You have the like, as you shall see by and
by, in Isa. lxvi. 1, 2. Only observe first what followeth there in Heb. ix. 11,
when he said that the body of Christ is a tabernacle made without hands. What
doth he add by way of explication? He saith that it is 'not of this creation;'
so the word in the original is; as if he should say, the tabernacle and the
bodies of men, of ordinary men, though the one made by man and the other made
by God, yet they are a more slight, a more ordinary kind of work. But, saith
he, this body of Christ is made without hands; that is, it is not of this
creation, it is not of the ohd creation, it is of a more transcendent creation.
And so is grace.
I backed this interpretation with Acts vii. 48, compared
with Isa. lxvi, 1, 2. In Acts vii. 48, Stephen proveth that God will not dwell
in temples made with hands. Saith he, 'Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in
temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,' - now mark what the prophet
saith, - ' Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool; what house will ye
build me, saith the Lord of hosts? or what is the place of my rest?' Therefore
man's hands cannot make him a house good enough. Nay, heaven and earth, the old
creation, is not good enough for him; for, saith he, 'Hath not my hands made
all these things?' Well, what is it that he will have now to dwell in, that
both exceedeth all the houses man can build, and exceedeth the house that
himself hath made, if you take the material heavens, and the earth that is his
footstool? Look in Isa. lxvi., you shall find that it is a gracious heart, that
is a thing made without hands; that is not of this ordinary creation of God,
for it is spoken in opposition to things made with hands. 'All these things,'
saith he, 'hath my hand made;' he slighteth them so, these are but an ordinary
sort of works, I will not dwell in them; 'but to him will I look that is poor
and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word,' so it is ver. 2.
So
that now, to have the least spark of grace begun in a man's heart is a work
made without hands, in comparison. It is of a higher kind of work than all the
works of men and angels - yea, than the works of the first creation. These
things hath mine hand made; but I will dwell in a circumcised heart made
without hands; that is not of this creation, that is of a higher creation than
all this - And so much for the general, That the putting in of grace into the
heart is a matter of more transcendent power than the first creation
was.
Now, my brethren, as I shewed you in particulars the power of God
in destroying what opposeth ; - I went over the understanding, shewed what
opposeth there, what a mighty power went to destroy the strongholds there; I
went over the will and affections, shewed yon what opposeth there likewise -
self-love, and all inordinate affections and love of pleasures, and the like ;
- as I did this in the negative part, in the destructive part, so I will do the
same also in this positive part. And I will shew you, this is the scope, that
for God to work grace in your understandings, to know things aright, which you
think is most easy, there is an exceeding greatness of power going to it, no
less than went to the first creation; yea, much more; it is not of this
creation : so likewise to put in holy principles into your will and affections.
Therefore, all that goeth to frame a Christian from first to last must needs be
an exceeding greatness of power. I am forced thus to repeat things, that I may
clear my method as I go along.
And, first, What God doth upon your
understandings when he doth convert you. Why, it requireth an exceeding
greatness of power, though you little think it, to believe : 'Who believe,'
saith the Apostle, 'according to the working of his mighty power.' I will not
run over all things that may be said of believing, but I will speak of
spiritual knowledge, to know things spiritually and aright as Christians do,
that it requireth an exceeding greatness of power to work it. I shall
demonstrate this unto you, in the first place, in a more general way; and,
secondly, more particularly by two things. .
In the first place, in the
general. For to make a soul to take a thing upon God's bare authority, and
therefore to believe it, is as great a work as any God doth; and it requireth
as much power, mark what I shall say to you, - it requireth as much power to
work faith in the heart to believe God will do such a thing, as it is for God
to do it.
For instance, to explain myself, - thongh I shall not follow my
instance in the opening of it, but for illustration's sake, - this is my
meaning : at the latter day, God will raise up all our bodies from the dust to
glory. To believe this spiritually and aright, and to work your hearts to
believe it, requireth as much power as for God to do it, when he cometh to do
it. So you have my meaning.
I shall give you a place of Scripture for it,
and it is in Mark ix. 21, 22. There is a poor man cometh to Christ to have a
miracle done for him; what doth he say to Christ? If thou canst do anything,
saith he, wilt thou heal my son, and throw the devil out of him ? ' If thou
canst do anything;' so he saith to Christ. Then mark what Christ saith to him :
'Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him
that believeth.' To open these words a little. You see when the man said, If
thou canst do anything, help my child; saith Christ again, If thou canst
believe, all things are possible. He makes it of equal possibility for him to
do the thing, and for the man to believe. It was as hard a matter for the man
to believe this, and required as much power to work faith in him, as it was for
Christ to effect it. Therefore our Saviour addeth, ' To him that believeth, all
things are possible,' for he conandeth all the power in God ; as if he should
say, There is as great an infinity of power required to work faith in thee to
believe it, it is all one, and to do the thing. So far as anything is possible,
so far it is credible, it is believable.
Let me put you a supposition. If
God should reveal by me infallibly, as he did speak by the prophets and
apostles, that he would make a new world to-morrow, it were as hard a thing for
God to work this faith in you, as for him to make this world ; he might make
this world upon the same rate as he would work this faith in your hearts. To
believe a thing upon divine authority doth require an omnipotent power. To
believe things upon slight grounds, that is easy; The fool believeth
everything,' saith Solomon in the Proverbs; but to believe this in earnest is a
work of an almighty power.
And so much in general, that the power of God in
doing anything for us is but proportionable to the working of faith in us that
he will do it, or that he is able to do it; yet you think this is easy, and yet
you see what the Scripture saith.
To come now particularly to shew you what
a mighty power goeth to work faith and spiritual knowledge; and it is but to
believe the thing, not to believe that it is yours; bnt to believe the thing in
a spiritual manner requireth an exceeding greatness of power. I shall shew you
it by two things
The first is, to work a principle of faith. You know I
told you in the last discourse that this new creation, much of the power of it
was spent in working habits as we call them, - that is, inward abilities, - to
work a formal principle, such as is to work sight in a blind eye. You know
there is the act of seeing, or seeing itself, and there is a principle of
seeing, a power to see; a framing of an eye and of a soul to see, as I may so
express it, or of a faculty of seeing. Now in the understanding, to understand
things spiritually and aright, there must be an almighty power go to it, to put
a new principle in you, to make you capable to believe and know spiritual
things.
I remember in the last discourse, when I shewed what expressions
the Holy Ghost useth to express the work of conversion, I quoted Rom. xii. 2,
where it is called a transformation, an altering the form of the mind, the
shape of the mind; it is a metamorphosis, as I then expressed it, and indeed
the word is so in the Greek. Now the transformation there, what is it applied
unto? It is applied unto the understanding of a mnan, it is but the changing of
the understanding that that word is used of. You think that to believe and to
know spiritual things is no great matter, and that all the difficulty lies in
doing of them, and in being affected with them. But the Apostle saith plainly,
that you may know things aright, that you may approve of them in a spiritual
way, of their goodness and excellencies; you must be metamorphosed, saith he,
in your minds, you must have a new form come in to your understanding; so the
word signifieth.
He useth two words there : ' Be not conformed to the
world,' saith he; and the word he useth for that signifieth an outward form, an
artificial form; for the world is but an empty show, an empty shape, as the
Apostle calleth it: 'The fashion of the world passeth' away; it is the same
word. But when he speaks of the other, the transformation of the understanding,
the word signifleth an inward cause, such as the soul is to the body, a natural
form, not an artificial; an inward one, not an outward one.
So that now,
for a man to approve of spiritual things in a spiritual manner look as if he
would make a beast understand as a man, you must bring a new soul, a new form:
so if you will make an unregenerate man understand spiritual things aright, you
must bring a new form, a new soul, as it were, into his understanding. The
Apostle expresseth it, 1 John v. 20, 'He hath given us an understanding that we
may know him :' not but the same for substance, the same natural power of
understanding, is in a wicked man and in a godly man; but there is a new
ability, a new principle, a new quality put in that fits him to understand
spiritual things, which the other cannot do.
To illustrate this further
unto you, and to shew you that to work this requireth no less power than in the
creation. Look first into 1 Cor. ii. 14. I shall tell you to what purpose I
quote that by and by. 'The natural man,' saith he, 'receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned; but he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is
judged of no man.' To open these words: by a natural man he meaneth a man that
is not regenerate, that is not born again, for be doth oppose him to a
spiritual man; a man that hath no other principles in him in respect of grace
than what he brought into the world; he hath the same natural understanding he
had without any spiritualness put upon it by the Holy Ghost. This is a natural
man. Now, saith he, this man receweth not the things of the Spirit of God ;
nay, saith he, he cannot know them. But he that is spiritual is both able to
receive them, and he can know them; so the opposition runneth. And all cometh
to this, that there must be a new principle put into the understanding of a man
not only a new light come in, bnt a new principle, if you would have this man
understand spiritual things aright. And that is the scope I quote this place
for - that the understanding must be altered, a new principle must be put into
it, a new habit as we call it. All the expressions do carry it to that
sense.
For, first, he saith, otherwise, if he be not made spiritual he
cannot receive spiritual things; that is, he wants a capacity. It is such a
phrase, as if you would speak to a deaf man, you will say he cannot recewe what
you say, for he he wanteth a faculty of hearing. If you bring a blind man into
the sun, he cannot recewe the light of it, for he wants a natural faculty so to
do. He expresseth it in a way of nature; he is not capable of it, which
argueth, I say, a want of a principle whereby to do it.
And not only so,
but he saith in the following words, 'he cannot know them,' he wants a power;
as the philosopher calleth it; for the Apostle speaks suitably here to
philosophical principles; that, as we say in philosophy, nothing can work but
it must have a principle of working, a man cannot see without the faculty of
seeing: so this man wants a faculty of knowing spiritual things, therefore he
cannot know them.
Thirdly, the reason be giveth evidenceth this; for
what is the reason why a natural man cannot know them? Because, saith be, they
are spiritually discerned. He speaks just like our school-men, for we use to
express in a way of distinction, in a spiritual manner, that is, spiritually.
The meaning is, to see it in its own spiritual nature, abstracted from all
considerations besides, so he cannot see it; that is the meaning of this, 'he
cannot discern it spiritually.' If he would knew it aright, he must know it as
it is in itself; now so he hath not a principle suited and fitted to this
object as it is spiritual in itself, he may knew it otherwise in other
considerations, but take it as it is spiritual and he cannot know it.
As,
for example, it is as if he should say, the mind of a man, or the eye of a man
rather, cannot see an angel. Why? For an angel is spiritually discerned. One
angel can see another; but take an angel merely as he is a spirit, let him not
take a shape, take him in his spiritual nature, and the eye of man cannot see
him. Why? For he is a spirit, and he must be discerned spiritually. Just so it
is here. Take spiritual things in their own nature, and he wants a faculty, a
spiritual principle, to see them with, to know them with.
Therefore, in
the fourth place, which is a fourth reason why that the Apostle here would
have a spiritual, a new principle to go to help a man to see spiritual things
spiritually; this is a fourth reason, in that he calleth him that discerneth a
spiritual man. ' He that is spiritual,' saith he, 'discerneth all things.' What
doth he mean by a spiritual man? You have it interpreted John ii. 6, 'That
which is born of the Spirit is spirit.' What is it that is born of the Spirit?
It is not an act of knowing, but it is a principle of knowledge; for always
that which cometh by birth is nature, it is natural dispositions that are
delivered to us by our birth; therefore we use to say of what is a man's
disposition, he hath it by nature. Therefore now his meaning is this: he is a
spiritual man, he is regenerate, he hath a new understanding, a new principle
put into him, a quickness, a disposition of understanding, which a carnal man
wants, and therefore he is not fitted to know spiritual things as he is. You
shall find in 1 Cor. xv. 44, that the Apostle saith, 'There is a natural body,
and there is a spiritual body;' they are the same terms in the Greek that are
used here, a natural man, and a spiritual man. Now by spiritual body there,
what is meant? Spiritual endowments; as to shine like the sun, to have agility
and nimbleness to move as an angel, to have all such spiritual endowments put
upon it; herein hath the spiritualness of the body, in opposition to this
natural body of ours. So a spiritual understanding hath in having new
endowmnents, which enableth a man to know spiritual things in such a manner as
no natural man in the world can know them.
Well then, this is the scope of
this place, and so I will leave it : That if you desire to know spiritual
things aright, you must have as great a change wrought in your minds to make
them spiritual, as your bodies one day shall have to make them spiritual at the
resurrection new qualities and endowments put upon your understandings, new
forms, so the Apostle expresseth it - to be 'transformed in the renewing of
your minds to know him' - in that 12th of the Romans.
Now then, to gather
up this first head, this must necessarily be done by a creation, no less power
than went to create at first. Nay, it is not of this creation neither.
To
make that plain to you, that a man cannot know spiritual things, cannot have
this principle of knowledge unless he be made a new creature it must be a
creation that must do it. For this I do quote 2 Cor. v. 16, 17. Read what the
Apostle saith there; be speaks of the different knowledge he had when he was an
unregenerate man, and a regenerate man. See how he expresseth it. 'Wherefore,'
saith he, 'henceforth,' from the the of my conversion, for indeed a Christian
reckoneth his life from his conversion; 'Wherefore henceforth,' - that is, from
the the of my conversion, - ' knew we no man after the flesh; yea, though we
have known Christ after the flesh, from henceforth know we him no more.' He
speaks of knowledge, you see, and of such a knowledge as he had wrought in him
from the the and instant of his conversion, differing from that before.
Before, I knew men after the flesh. That phrase, 'after the flesh,' referreth
both to the things known; that is, I valued all men and things as they were in
the flesh : if I looked upon a man that was rich and honourable, I valued him
by his riches and honours, and what he was in fleshly things, by this I did set
my esteem upon men, and accordingly upon things also; and this was all the
understanding I had both of things and persons. Or the phrase referreth unto
his manner of knowing, or notes out the principle by which he knew them; knew
them after the flesh, saith he, - that is, from carnal principles; my
understanding was nothing but flesh; 'that which is born of the flesh is
flesh.' And so was my understanding, like the things I valued, suited to them;
as the things were fleshly, so I valued them as such, by reason of my fleshly
understanding: and so the Apostle useth the phrase, Rom. viii. 5, 'They that
are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh;' that is, the disposition of
the mind, and the things, are suited each to other, as a natural object and the
faculty, as the eye in the body and corporeal objects. A man that is nothing
but of a fleshly understanding, all his delight, and knowledge, and approbation
of things is according to the flesh. As on the contrary, in the same place, he
that is 'after the Spirit,' he savoureth and knoweth the things that are after
the Spirit;' valueth them according to what they are in God's Book, at a
spiritual rate.
Now, saith he, when I was thus carnal, I knew all things
thus after the flesh; I counted myself, saith he in Phil. in. 5, 6, to have
these and these prwileges; I was a Benjamite, a Hebrew, touching the law a
Pharisee, concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. He was a
scholar, and profited more than his equals; and these things he valued himself
and others by. And the truth is, a carnal man, take him practically, and thus
he knoweth and esteemeth of things. Yea, saith he, I knew Christ after the
flesh. It is the highest instance that can be. One would think, that if he
should know anything spiritually, he should know Christ spiritually, if he knew
him at all ; for there is no carnal comeliness in him to desire him; that
object is so spiritual as is not capable of fleshly knowledge. Yes, saith he, I
knew Christ after the flesh; for the truth is, when he was a Pharisee, he
thought the Messiah would have been a great king, and should have come in pomp
and state to deliver his nation, as you know the opinion of the Jews was, Luke
xvii. 20, 'The kingdom of God cometh not with observation,' or with pomp, for
so good interpreters render it, and the opposition in the 21st verse makes for
it: 'The kingdom of God is within you,' it is spiritual. Now, as the rest of
the Jews, so I valued the Messiah thus, and I thought thus carnally of him ;
but, saith he, when I came to be converted, fronm henceforth, from the time I
was converted, I knew him so no more. I saw then the Messiah to be such a one
as the 14th and 15th verses hath described him; not one that should come with
pomp, but one that should be crucified, and die, and rise again, and thereby
take away our sins, for so in the 14th verse he is described, which is the
occasion of this speech. This was the Messiah I began to know when I was
converted, and I valued him according to pardon of sin and working grace in me.
He came to know this Messiah spiritually, and after another manner.
Well
now, to draw up to that I aim at : how came the Apostle, or what was the reason
the Apostle, after his conversion, should have this knowledge, that before he
should know all things after the flesh, and now he knoweth all things in
another manner?
Read the next words, ' Therefore,' or, as the word will
bear, 'Therefore, because,' (so Piscator renders it, and says it is an illatwe
particle put for a rational, or the reason of what went before, 'wherefore', or
'because,') 'he that is in Christ is a new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new.' As if he should have said, Will you
have the rcason why that I know nothing any more after the flesh; no, not even
Christ himself? It is because I am a new creature, that is the reason of it. I
have had a new principle wrought in my understanding, by which all my thoughts
are turned; all my former thoughts perish, as a man's doth when he dieth. I do
not set a value upon men for honour and riches, and for their comforts in this
life. I set that value once upon Christ himself, and judged of him; but now I
judge of men and things in a spiritual way, according to what they are in
holiness and the world to come. I judge by God's books, and not what they are
in men's books or in the world's books. You see that which caused this was a
new creation. 'Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new.'
So that for a man to have true spiritual knowledge, which yet men are
apt in their thoughts to slight, and think to be the least of all things to be
wrought, it must have no less power than what went to the creation, it must
have the exceeding greatness of the power of God to go to it. - So much for the
first particular, the work on the understanding.
Now then, secondly, when
this new creature is wrought, - that is, when a man hath a new eye given him, -
there must be another creation before a man will know anything actually, before
he will see it. This new creation, this new understanding gives him a new eye,
a capacity indeed which a natural man hath not - the other is blind, he hath an
eye. But still his eye will not help him to see; this new understanding will
not see, except God doth somewhat more, it will not see aright and spiritually.
You will ask, what is it that is further required?
As great a thing as the
former. It is this: it is for the Holy Ghost to create in your understandings a
new image of things, a new species or representation of things, such as never
any carnal man in this world had; and this must go to spiritual knowledge, or
you will never know things aright; you all come easily by it, but this power
goeth to work it. It is the point in hand. You shall find, too, that an act of
faith is expressed by an act of sight: 'He that seeth the Son, and believeth on
him,' that is the expression of Christ, John vi. 40. There is such a sight of
God and of Christ, by the understanding of a man renewed, when he doth know
them, when his mind works upon them spiritually, - tbere is such a sight
wrought in his mind of them as all the men in the world have net, nor are any
way capable of. If all the angels in heaven - mark what I say - should go and
describe God and Christ upon their own knowledge, and all their excellences;
they saw Christ upon earth, they see him now he is heaven ; and if a man should
go and quicken up his understanding and natural parts, yea, and have the utmost
assistance of the Holy Ghost, so as not to renew his understanding ; all these
will but raise up a shadow of Christ, in comparison of what a godly man hath of
him in his heart. It will be but a false sun. You know there are sometimes more
suns than one appear in the clouds; look what that is in comparison of the true
sun, such will all that knowledge be that a man hath that is merely a natural
man. Take a man in nature, raised never so high, all his knowledge is but a
false Sun of righteousness in comparison of what a godly man seeth; because the
Holy Ghost createth in him, stampeth upon his mind another manner of image and
representation of him, than he doth in the heart of the most enlightened man in
the world.
To open this unto you a little.
I told you even now of
raising up a false sun, and seeing the true sun; they are like you know, but
they are mighty vast, wide, different things. Saith the Apostle, Eph. w. 21,
when he exhorteth them to put off the old man, and to put on the new : 'If so
be,' saith he, ver. 20, 'that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him,
as the truth is in Jesus : that ye put off concerning the former conversation
the old man,' he spake these words, 'If so be ye have heard him, and have been
taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus,' are a correction of himself in what
he said before. All Christians, saith be, are taught not to walk as the
Gentiles walk; 'Ye have not so learned Christ;' but yet, because many
Christians do learn Christ, and know Christ, and yet do otherwise, he
correcteth himself, - ' If so be,' saith he, 'ye have heard, and have been
taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus.' If you have seen him in truth, saith
he, if you have seen the true Jesus as he is in himself, if you have seen
spiritual Jesus spiritualy ; then, saith he, it will have this fruit upon you,
that ye will put off the old man, and put on the new; it is impossible it
should be otherwise.
The thing I gather from hence is this : the Apostle,
you see, distinguisheth the knowledge of Christians ; all have learned Christ
in the outward learning of him ; but there is, saith he, a learning of him in
the mind, 'as the truth is in Jesus.' There is a false knowledge, a knowledge
of a false Jesus, but of an appearance of him, a shadow of him, which all
carnal men that lie under the preaching of the gospel have ; but if ye have
seen Jesus in truth, this followeth upon it, you will put off the old man, and
put on the new. So that from hence it is evident that there is such a knowledge
of Christ, which a man is taught, and hath wrought in his heart by the Holy
Ghost, such an image and representation of him which is in truth, and in
comparison of which other knowledge is a false knowledge.
My brethren,
shall I shew you the difference wherein this lieth!
All the world yieldeth
that the difference of men's knowledges ariseth from the different image or
picture of things, if you will so call it, which the mind takes in. That you
will easily grant. If you take two men, and the one sees the picture of a man,
and the other sees the man himself, he that hath seen the mau himself hath such
a knowledge of him as he that hath seen but the picture hath not, nor cannot
have, except he see the man himself. Why? Because there is a different image
begotten in the mind and fancy of him that hath seen the man, and him that hath
only seen the picture. Hence ariseth different knowledges.
Here then is the
thimig I infer : that the Holy Ghost, when he reneweth the understanding of a
man, doth beget in him by his almighty power another representation of Christ
and of God, and of all spiritual things in their spiritual nature; whereas
other men have but the pictures of them, they do not know them as the truth is
in Jesus, as I said even now.
All knowledge is either when we take the
images off from the things themselves; as when we see a man himself, or when I
take the image of him at second-hand from something that representeth him. Now
herein lieth the difference of the knowledge of a godly man and others, that
the Holy Ghost createth a proper likeness and representation of spiritual
things, of God and Christ ; whereas all men else know him at second-hand, they
hear of him, and have been taught by him, but not as the truth is in Jesus.
Hence is that phrase of the Apostle in 1 Cor. ii. 9. I take it that which I am
now handling openeth that phrase, and is pertinent to the meaning of it. Saith
he, ' Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart
of man' - that is, a natural man - ' to conceive the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him; but God hath revealed them unto us by his
Spirit.' I plainly take the meaning to be this. There are such revelations, so
the Apostle here calleth them, such images, such representations of spiritual
things begotten in a godly man's heart, as never entered unto the heart of any
carnal man in the world, and that is the reason why he cannot know them. New
Jesus Christ, you know, is absent ; ' in whom, though we have not seen,' saith
he, ' we believe ; he is in heaven. He is a thing not seen : you hear his word
and see his wounds; but beyond all these, the Holy Ghost begetteth in your
minds an image of God and Christ, makes him real to you, makes him subsist ;
makes God that is absent, present, Christ that is absent, present. Therefore it
is called sight, so the Scripture expresseth it, ' He that seeth the Son, and
believeth on him; ' therefore, Heb. xi. 1, where there is a description of
faith, he calleth it 'the substance of things hoped for ;' they have a
substantial image of the things begotten in them. It is not a mere notion.
Now, my brethren, this is the highest art, the greatest power - consider what I
say - to beget a real and substantial notion and image of God, and of Christ,
and of any spiritual thing, in the mind and heart of a believer, and is more
than to create a world. Why ? The excellency of any creature lies in this, in
its ability to represent God to a man ; therein lay the excellency of the
creation at first, that it declareth God and his glory, and sheweth forth his
handiwork, as the Psalmist saith.
Now the image that the Holy Ghost
begetteth in a man's heart of himself, of God and Christ, ancl of all spiritual
things, doth more lively represent God to a man than all the Scripture, simply,
or than all the works of God, yea, than it was done to Adam. For, saith he,
'eye hath not seen, neither hath the ear heard, nor hath it entered into the
heart of man from the beginning of the world,' (so it is in Isa. lxw. 4,) no,
not into the heart of Adam himself.
This all divines acknowledge, that
faith is a knowledge of God in se, not of God by his works at
second-hand, but a knowledge of God in himself, as when you know the sun by a
beam of himself; and this is the knowledge that the Holy Ghost works, and
therefore there is required as much to it and more, than to create a world.
To give you a scripture for this, and that pertinent and proper to the thing in
hand. It is in 2 Cor. w. 6. The Apostle there compareth the spiritual knowledge
which was in his own heart, and which by his ministry the Holy Ghost had
begotten in the heart of others, he compareth the very knowledge of it to no
less than the creating light out of darkness at first. Read the scripture : '
For God,' saith he, 'who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath
shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ.' He compareth, I say, the knowledge which God wrought
in his own heart being converted, and which by his means, being an apostle, was
begotten in the heart of others, to that great work of creating light out of
darkness. saith he, the God, the same God that commanded light to shine out of
darkness, the same God hath caused us to have the knowledge of God; and, mark
it, why doth he add, 'in the face of Jesus Christ?' The word in the original
is, 'in the person of Jesus Christ' . It is a personal knowledge, it is a real
knowledge of God; that knowledge I have described all this while, it is not a
notional knowledge, it is the knowledge of his person brought down into our
hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is an artifice that transcendeth the power of
any creature; it is peculiar to the Holy Ghost to give a subsistence of Chnist
to a man's soul.
And that the Apostle speaks here of a mighty power that
works this knowledge is evident in the next words; for going on in the next
verse, he saith, 'We have this treasure in earthen vessels.' Thiat we should
have such a knowledge in us, and be able to convey it to others, it is a
treasure indeed this gift, and it is in earthen vessels. To what end? 'That the
excellency of power ' - hyperbole - ' that the greatness of the power may be of
God,' may be ascribed to him that thus createth by an almighty power the light
of the knowledge of the person of Christ in the heart of a man.
So that now
you see, that the working of knowledge, - I do not tell you of all the great
difficulties, for to draw a man to believe in Christ, and to lay hold on
Christ, and to love Christ, all which require the same power; but I speak
simply of spiritual knowledge, to believe the things themselves in a true,
real, substantial manner, - this is from an almighty power. 'that ye may know,'
saith he, ' what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward, who
believe, according to the working of his mighty power.' To work faith in the
very understanding of a man, all this is required. - So much now for the first
part: that to believe, to have spiritual knowledge wrought in a man, requireth
exceeding greatness of power. I could not have made this plain under less time
than what I have now spent upon it, and faith, you see, is in the text; for it
is to us-ward who believe; I have therefore a little larger insisted upon
it.
I come now, in the second place, to the will of a man; I will be brief
in it; and that which is put in there too it requireth an exceeding greatness
of power to make that holy, to make a man conformable to the things he knoweth.
I will instance but in one thing : - That the will of man should be raised up
to aim at God's glory in all that he doth, and to make God the chiefest good,
it must be an almighty power that must put this principle into a man's heart, a
higher power than simply was in the first creation, to do it as believers are
enabled to do it. Go, take creatures that were made by God's almighty power;
take men, take beasts; they have nothing of this in them at all, not of
holiness to aim at the glory of God; take nature simply considered in itself,
as man hath it now, there is no such thing in him, nor in all the creatures
besides man; but angels that had it created in them at first after the image of
God that created them, indeed they had it, and Adam had it so too. To put
therefore such a principle as this is into a man, that his spirit shall love
God naturally as now he loveth himself, and subordinate himself unto God, - and
herein lieth holiness, - my brethren, this is the greatest work in the
world.
You may easily know the greatness of the work from the excellency of
the thing. This putteth down all creatures; it makes a man differ from other
men, as a man doth from a beast. A man hath three lives that he liveth, the
life of a plant, the life of a beast, and the life of reason; here is a fourth
life, to aim at the glory of God. It is called 'the light of life,' John viii.
12.
My brethren, this is bringing in a new form indeed, a new soul indeed,
to put this principle into a man's heart; this is transformation indeed. Why?
It bringeth a new end into a man's heart; and what the form is to natural
things, - that is, what the soul is unto a man's body,' - that is a man's end
to his soul when he is converted. It is the best definition I ever heard of
conversion, that it is the change of a man's utmost end, and upon that a man's
soul is turned to God. A man was before for himself, and so long as himself is
his end, let him have never so many changes, yet still he turneth upon himself.
Now, do but put holiness into him, to aim at God in all things, it changeth the
whole man presently; it changeth all his course, all his affections, everything
in him. It is a new loadstone, it will make him sail after another compass.
Now, to work this, to make a man's heart to be for God as he is naturally for
himself, it requireth a mighty power of God to do it. Saith the Apostle in 2
Peter i. 3, 'According as his divine power hath given to us all things that
pertain to life and godliness.' Hast thou any godliness in thy heart? a
principle of godliness to aim at God? for that properly is godliness, to set
him up. It must be a mighty power that must do it; according, saith he, to his
divine power; it is a power that only belongeth to God to do this.
Aquinas
saith well, when a man hath grace to aim at God, it raiseth a man up above all
the being and power of nature. Therefore it is more than all the creation of
nature simply considered; it is called, therefore, a 'divine nature.'
My
brethren, you may know the great power that goeth to work this from the
excellency of it ; for the more excellent a thing is in being, certainly the
more power goeth to work it. This excelleth all beings, raiseth a man beyond
all beings; for it raiseth a man up to live the life of Cod. A man liveth the
life of a beast when he liveth in pleasures; of a man, when he liveth in honour
and in things the reason is capable of; but all this while he is a stranger to
the life of God. But to add to the life of a beast the life of reason, and to
the life of reason the life of God, you will say that there must be an
exceeding greatness of power to do this. To make a man to aim at God and his
glory, is more than to make a man, or beast, or stocks, or stones, or worlds.
Saith the apostle James, chap. i. 17, 18, 'Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.' It is from
above, wholly from above; those gifts that are good, by way of eminency, are
wholly from above, they are wholly by a divine power. He speaks of grace, read
the words after: 'he hath begotten us again according to his will, that we
should be the first-fruits.' And he speaks of grace before, as well as in the
words after; it is a thing wholly from above, no power can do it. I told you
before that the phrase, 'made without hands,' noteth out a transcendency of
working; it is applied to Christ's body, and to the glory of heaven. Well, this
phrase, from above, is applied to none but Christ, and it is to argue the
excellency of Christ above all others. Read John in. 31. When John would prove
Christ to be greater not only than himself, but greater than all, what saith
he? 'He that cometh from above,' saith he - be useth the same phrase that the
Apostle doth here of grace - ' is greater than all;' so here, 'Every good gift
is from above,' it is wholly divine, and cometh from the Father of lights. For
a man to aim thus at God, I say it cometh wholly from him.
I will shut up
this point only with this. Do but now look into your hearts; have you any of
this perfect gift that is thus wholly from above, and draweth you up to above,
to aim at God more than yourselves, and that that steereth your course? My
brethren, to be thus turned to God is to have a new end, it throweth the soul
upon new hinges, it toucheth the soul as a loadstone that toucheth the knife,
draweth it toward God in everything. There is nothing of it in nature, no
disposition of it, there is nothing of it in all the creature. Go, take man as
simply considered, as reasonable ; and take beasts, and all this inferior
world, there is no such thing. There is a world indeed, a being, where there
are those that aim at God. But take this world, all the creatures, sun, and
moon, and stars, take all the sons of men, they have not such a principle as
this. It is a higher principle than reason itself, it is the life of God ; the
other is but the life of reason, or the life of beasts. Do but examine now
whether you have any such thing in you, if you would know whether the exceeding
greatness of his power hatk wrought in your hearts or no.
I may compare a
man that is turning to God to one that is going with full sail to such a
country or port, and hath taken in lading fitting and suitable to that country,
and he hath a compass to guide him thither; he hath the wind fair for him. By
nature a man loadeth himself with a world of vanities ; he is shipped for this
world, and that is it which his eye aimeth at, to make himself happy in the
world in some thing or other. Now, my brethren, God meets with him by the way,
takes him off from all his ends that were for himself, putteth in a new pilot,
setteth up a new loadstar, giveth him a new compass, sendeth his blessed Spirit
into his heart, that as a wind bloweth him clean another way; all the lading he
hath by nature he cannot vent any of those commodities, he throweth them all
overboard. Thus God dealeth with a man when he turneth him.
Paul was a ship
richly laden. I was a scholar, saith he, and profited in the Jewish language
more than all my teachers; I had much to boast of. God comes, and he throweth
them all overboard; 'I count all things but as dross and dung in comparison of
the knowledge of Christ,' . What made Paul do this? God had touched his heart
with this loadstone, to the direction of which all must be conformed. He
turneth out all old commodities, putteth in a new rudder, a new pilot, a new
compass; and now, saith he, I must needs aim at God's glory in all things. My
brethren, herein lieth the work of conversion; wherein lieth it else ? Then it
lieth in this, or it lieth in nothing. Now to work such a work as this in a
man, to touch a man's heart thus, is as much as to throw the earth off its
centre. Take the earth, if it move as some suppose it doth, if it move still
upon its centre, this is no great matter ; but if you would see the earth go
off his centre, and fix itself in the same sphere with the sun, and go ahong
with the same pace and with the same motion, you would think an almighty power
must go to do all this. this God doth. A man moveth himself; move him which way
you will, if you will move him to God, as self-love will sometimes do, yet
still he is upon his own centre, all is for himself. God cometh and turns him
off his own images, takes him from his own bottom, placeth him in the same
sphere with himself, makes him aim at him in all things. This is holiness; and
to put this priniciple into a man's heart, nothing but the almighty power of
God can do it. It is above all the creation.
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