A Holy Life

When I write of justification before God from the dreadful curse of the law, I must speak of nothing but grace, Christ, the promise, and faith. But when I speak of our justification before men, then I must join good works to these. For grace, Christ, and faith are invisible things, and so they cannot be seen by another except through a life that suits so blessed a gospel, the gospel that has declared to us the forgiveness of our sins for the sake of Jesus Christ. So whoever wants forgiveness of sins, and so to be delivered from the curse of God, must believe in the righteousness and blood of Christ. But whoever wants to show his neighbors that he has truly received this mercy of God must do it by good works, for to them everything else is only talk. For example, a tree is known to be what it is, that is, whether it is of this kind or that, by its fruit. It is a tree even without fruit, but so long as it stays that way, it gives occasion to doubt what kind of tree it is.

A professor is a professor, though he has no good works; but whoever concludes from that alone that he is truly godly is a fool (Matt 7:17-18; Jas 2:18). Not that works make a man good, for the fruit does not make a good tree. It is the principle, namely faith, that makes a man good, and his works that show him to be so (Matt 7:16; Luke 6:44).

What follows, then? Why, all professors who do not have good works flowing from their faith are worthless. They are bramble bushes; they are “nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned” (Heb 6:8). For by their fruitlessness professors declare that they are not of God’s planting, nor the wheat, “but tares and children of the wicked one” (Matt 13:37-38).

Not that faith needs good works as a help to justification before God. For in this matter faith will know nothing of any good works except those done by the person of Christ. Here, then, the good man “worketh not, but believeth” (Rom 4:5). For he is not now to carry anything to God, but to receive from his hand, by faith, that which justifies him. And that which justifies him before God is nothing else but the good deeds of another man, namely Christ Jesus.

But is there, then, no need at all of good works, because a man is justified before God without them? Or can that be called a justifying faith which does not have good works for its fruit (Jas 2:20, 26)? Truly, good works are necessary, though God does not need them (Job 22:3). Nor is that faith worth a straw, as to justification with God, which stays alone, without them.

There is, therefore, a twofold faith of Christ in the world. As to the idea of justifying righteousness, the two agree and go together, but as to the manner of applying it, they differ vastly. The one, the non-saving faith, consists in speculation and bare knowledge of Christ, and so stays idle. But the other truly sees and receives him, and so becomes fruitful (John 1:12; Heb 11:13; Rom 6:16). And so true justifying faith is said to receive, to embrace, and to obey the Son of God as he is offered in the gospel. That way of speaking shows both the nature of justifying faith, in how it acts in the matter of justification, and also the reason it is full of good works in the world. A gift is not made mine by my seeing it, or because I know the nature of the thing given. It is mine when I receive and embrace it; yes, and as to the point in hand, when I yield myself up to stand or fall by it.

Now, the one who not only sees but receives, not only knows but embraces the Son of God, to be justified by him, cannot help bringing forth good works. For Christ, who is now received and embraced by faith, leavens and seasons the spirit of this sinner through his faith, and so makes him capable of bringing them forth (Acts 15:9; Gen 18:19). Faith made Sarah receive strength to conceive seed (Heb 11:11), and we are sanctified through faith which is in Christ. For faith has joined Christ and the soul together, and being so joined, the soul is one spirit with him: not in essence, but in agreement and oneness of purpose. Besides, when Christ is truly received and embraced for the justifying of the sinner, he dwells in that man’s heart by his word and Spirit, through the same faith also. Now Christ, by his Spirit and word, cannot help but season the soul he dwells in this way. So the soul, being seasoned, seasons the body; and body and soul season the life and conduct.

We know it is not the seeing but the taking of a medicine that makes it work as it should. Nor is the blood of Christ a cleansing to this or that conscience unless it is received by faith (Heb 9:14).

Shall that, then, be counted right believing in Christ for justification which amounts to no more than idle speculation, or bare knowledge of him? Shall that knowledge of him, I say, be counted such, which only makes the soul look on but does not move it to good works? No, truly. For the true beholding of Jesus for justification and life changes us from glory to glory (2 Cor 3:18).

Nor can the man who has so believed that by his faith he has received and embraced Christ for life before God be without good works. For, as I said, the word and Spirit also come by this faith and dwell in the heart and conscience. Now, shall a soul where the word and Spirit of Christ dwell be a soul without good works? Indeed, shall a soul that has received the love, the mercy, the kindness, grace, and salvation of God, through the sorrows, tears, groans, cross, and cruel death of Christ, still be a fruitless tree? God forbid! This faith is like the salt the prophet threw into the spring of bitter water: it makes the soul good and useful forever (2 Kgs 2:19-22).

If receiving a gift for this life naturally moves us to tip our hats and bend our knees, and binds us to be the servant of the giver, shall we think that faith will leave the one who has received Christ by it as unconcerned as a block of wood or a stone? Or that the most it can do is to stir the soul to lip service, to give Christ a few fair words for his pains and grace, and so wrap up the business? No, no; “the love of Christ constraineth us” to judge this way: that it is only reasonable, since he gave his all for us, that we should give our some for him (2 Cor 5:14-15).

Let no one, then, deceive himself with true notions, as he may and will if he does not take care. Instead, let him examine himself concerning his faith: whether he has any, and if he has some, whether it is the kind that will count for something in the day when God judges the world.

I told you before that there is a twofold faith, and now I will tell you that there are two sorts of good works. A shrewd guess may be made about a man’s faith even from the works he chooses to busy himself with.

There are works that cost nothing, and works that are costly. And note this: the unsound faith will choose for itself the easiest works it can find. For example, there are reading, praying, hearing sermons, baptism, breaking of bread, church fellowship, preaching, and the like. And there are putting our lusts to death, charity, simplicity, open-heartedness, with a generous hand to the poor, and things like these as well. Now the unsound faith picks and chooses, takes and leaves; but the true faith does not do so.

There are a great many professors in England now who have nothing to distinguish them from the worst of men except their praying, reading, hearing of sermons, baptism, church fellowship, and breaking of bread. Only separate them from these, and everywhere else they are as black as others, even in their whole life and conduct. So they have chosen for themselves the easiest things to do, but do not love to be found conscientiously practicing the other. This is a sure sign that their faith is worthless, and that these things, the very things they busy themselves with, are attended to by them not for the ends for which God appointed them, but to deceive and ruin themselves with.

Praying, hearing, reading: what are these things ordained for, except that by the godly use of them we may attain more of the knowledge of God, and be strengthened by his grace to serve him better according to his moral law? Baptism, fellowship, and the Lord’s Supper are ordained for these ends too. But there is a vast difference between using these things and using them for these ends. A man may pray, yes, pray for things that would make him better in morals if he had them, without any desire to be better in morals or any love for the things he prays for. A man may read and hear so as to know, but not so as to learn to do; yes, he may be dead to doing moral goodness and yet be great at reading and hearing all his days. So the people among all professors who are zealous of good works are Christ’s own special people (Titus 2:14).

What has a man done who is baptized, if he does not pursue the ends for which that appointment was ordained? I say the same of fellowship, of breaking bread, and so on. For we should use all these things to support our faith, to put the flesh to death, and to strengthen us to walk in newness of life by the rule of the moral law. Nor can that man be counted holy whose life is tainted with immoralities, let him be whatever he can in everything else. As to practical righteousness, I am of the same mind as the man who said to Christ on this very question, “Well, master, thou hast said the truth; … for to love the Lord our God with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:28-33). To love my neighbor as myself, to do as I would be done by: this is the law and the prophets. And as for the one who is altogether a stranger to these things, how does the love of God dwell in him? Or how will he show another that his faith will save him?

Satan is afraid that people should hear of justification by Christ, in case they should embrace it. Yet if he can prevail with them to keep their hands off it, even though they hear and look on and practice lesser things, he can bear it better. Indeed, he will work to make such professors bold to conclude that by that kind of faith they will enjoy Christ, though by it they cannot embrace him or lay hold of him. For he knows that however far a man engages in a profession of Christ with a faith that looks on but cannot receive or embrace him, that faith will leave him with nothing but mistakes and disappointments in the end.

The gospel comes to some in word only, and the faith of such people consists only in a verbal sound. But the apostle was resolved not to know or take notice of such a faith (1 Thess 1:4-5). “For the kingdom of God,” he says, “is not in word, but in power” (1 Cor 4:18-20). He whose faith consists only in saying “I believe” has his works in bare words too; the one is as effective as the other, and both are worthless enough. “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (Jas 2:15-17). Satan can allow this faith, then, because it is somewhat akin to his own (Jas 2:19).

Besides, what greater contempt can be cast on Christ than these wordy professors cast on him? These are the men who say by their practice that the gospel is only an empty sound. Indeed, the more they profess, the louder they proclaim it to be so, to his disgrace, while despite their profession of faith they hold and maintain their alliance with the devil and sin. The Son of God was revealed so that he might destroy the works of the devil, but these men profess his faith and keep those works alive in the world (1 John 3:8). Shall these pass for people who believe to the saving of the soul? For a man to be content with this kind of faith, and to expect to reach salvation by it: what greater provocation to God is there?

The devil laughs here, for he knows he has not lost his slave by such a faith as this. Rather, he has made use of the gospel, that glorious word of life, to fasten his captive all the faster in his shackles, through the captive’s presumption that he has the right faith.

It amazes me to see sin running so high amid the swarms of professors found in every corner of this land. Nor can any other reason be given for it, except that the gospel has lost its former power, or that professors lack faith in it. But do you think it is because of the first? No. The word of our God shall stand in its strength forever. The faith of such people, therefore, is not right. In place of shields of gold they have made themselves shields of brass (2 Chr 12:9-10). Or, instead of the faith of the first Christians, which was of the operation of God (Col 2:12), they have got themselves a faith that stands by the power and in the wisdom of man (1 Cor 2:4-5).

And, to say no more on this, what is God so angry with this land for, but the sin of the professors who live in it, since they have polluted his name with their gifts and with their idols? God, I say, has been most bitterly provoked by us, since we have profaned his name, making use of his name, his word, and his ordinances to serve ourselves. O Lord, what will you do to this land? We are every one of us looking for something, even for something that carries terror and dread in the sound of its wings as it comes, though we do not know its form or face. One cries out, another has his hands upon his loins, and a third is driven mad by the sight of his eyes and by what his ears hear.

And as their faith has served them regarding justification, so it now serves them regarding repentance and reformation: it can do nothing here either. For though, as was said, people cry out and put their hands upon their loins for fear, yet where is the church, the household, the man that stands in the gap for the land, to turn away this wrath by repentance and amendment of life? “Behold the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the places of the earth, and the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place” (Mic 1:3-4). But what is the cause of all this? “For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel” (Mic 1:5).

Those who are able to observe such things have noticed that all God has done to us already has failed to produce the humility and reformation by which his judgments must be turned away. Repentance is rare in this day, and yet without doubt it is the thing without which matters will grow worse and worse. As for those who hope that God will save his people, though only from temporal judgments, whether they repent and reform or do otherwise, I must leave them and their opinions together. This I have found: sometimes the repentance even of the godly has come too late to turn aside such judgments. And how some of the godly should be so indulged as to be spared punishment without repentance, when the true and unfeigned repentance of others will not deliver them, leaves me, I confess, lost in a wilderness!

But what is most of all to be lamented is that sin, through custom, has become no sin. Overflowing wickedness has become no sin with many in this day. Surely this was the case with Israel; otherwise, how could they say, when the prophets so bitterly announced God’s judgments against them, “Because we are innocent, surely his anger shall turn from us” (Jer 2:35)? When custom or bad example has taken away the sense of sin, it is a sign that the soul is in a dangerous stupor; and yet this is the condition of most who profess religion among us today. But to leave this and proceed.

As there is a twofold faith, two sorts of good works, and the like, so there is also a twofold love to Christ. The one stands, or stops, in certain passions of the mind and affections; the other is the love that breaks through all difficulties to the holy commandment, to do it. Both of these are mentioned in Scripture. And though all true love begins in the heart, yet that love is valued but little which does not break through to practice. How many there are in the world who seem to have the first, but how few show the second!

The young man in the gospel (Mark 10:17), by his running, kneeling, crying out, inquiring, and pleading with Christ to show him the way to life, showed that he had an inward love for Christ and for his own salvation. Yet it was not a love that was “strong as death,” “cruel as the grave,” and hotter than the coals of juniper (Song 8:6). It was a love that stopped in the mind and affection, but could not break out into practice. If this kind of love is left alone, and not pressed to go on until it comes to a laboring practice of the commandment, it will love as long as you like, that is, as long as mouth and tongue can wag. But for all your skill you will not drive this love farther than the mouth; “for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness” (Ezek 33:31).

Nor may this love be counted the right kind because it is in the heart, for the heart knows how to dissemble about love as much as about other matters. This is feigned love, love that pretends to tender affection for Christ but can spend nothing on him. The world is full of this kind of love today, especially the professors of this age. But, as I said, the Lord Jesus makes little or no account of it, because it has an essential defect in it. This, then, is how Christ and his servants describe the love that is true and of the right kind, both with reference to himself and to his church.

First, with reference to himself. “If a man love me,” he says, “he will keep my words” (John 14:23). And again, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me” (John 14:21). And, “He that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings.” “And the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:24). See now where Christ places the sign of love. It is not in word or in tongue, nor in great and seemingly affectionate gestures, but in a practical walking in the law of the Lord. Hence such people, and only such, are called the undefiled in the way. You know who says, “I am the way” (John 14:6). “Blessed,” says David, “are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord” (Ps 119:1).

But here again the hypocrite will give us the slip by turning to outward matters, such as his “mint and anise and cummin” (Matt 23:23), still neglecting the weightier matters of the law, namely judgment, mercy, and faith. Or else he turns to the symbolic ordinances, still neglecting to do to all men as he would have them do to him. But let such people know that God never ordained symbolic ordinances, such as baptism, the Lord’s Supper, or the like, for the sake of water, or of bread and wine. Nor did he ordain them because he takes any delight in our being dipped in water or eating that bread. Rather, they were ordained to minister to us, by the fitness of the elements and through our sincere partaking of them, further knowledge of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and of our death and resurrection by him to newness of life.

Therefore, the one who eats and does not believe, and the one who is baptized and is not dead to sin and does not walk in newness of life, neither keeps these ordinances nor pleases God. Now to be dead to sin is to be dead to the things forbidden in the moral law. For sin is the transgression of that law, and it does no good to boast that I am a saint, and under this or that symbolic ordinance, if I live in “the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). For the law convicts me as a transgressor, and so I am judged to be one who does not love Christ, though I make a noise about my obedience to Christ and my partaking of his symbolic ordinances.

The Jews of old made a great noise with their symbolic ordinances while they lived in breach of the moral law, but their practice of symbolic ordinances could not save them from the judgment and displeasure of their God. They could frequent the temple, keep their feasts, slay their sacrifices, and be mighty busy about all their symbolic things. But they loved idols and lived in breach of the second table of the law; therefore God cast them out of his presence. Listen to what the prophet says of them: “Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God” (Amos 4:4-5). So, as I said, the hypocrite gives us the slip. For when he hears that love lies in keeping the commandments of God, he betakes himself to the more external parts of worship and neglects the weightier matters, to the provoking of the God of Israel.

Second, as love to God is shown by keeping his commandments, so love to my neighbor is likewise the keeping of the commandments of God. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God,” in us, both toward God and toward man, “that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:2-3). He who does not keep God’s commandments loves neither God nor men.

This, then, is how we must learn to love one another. He who keeps God’s commandment does what is right to his brother, for that is God’s commandment. He who keeps God’s commandment does to his brother just as he would have done to himself, for that is God’s commandment. He who keeps God’s commandment does not shut up his heart of compassion from his brother, for the contrary is his commandment. Further, he who keeps God’s commandment shows his brother what he must do to honor rightly the Christ he professes. Therefore, he who keeps the commandment loves his brother. Yes, keeping the commandment is loving the brethren.

But if all the love we claim to have for one another were tried by this one text, how much of what we call love would be found to be nothing of the kind? Our spirits are perverse in everything, and they cannot be guided right except by the word and Spirit of God. May the good Lord grant us these plentifully, so that we may do what is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, and may there be worked in us by them a sound repentance for all that we have done amiss, lest he give “Jacob to the spoil, and Israel to the robbers,” because they have sinned against him by not walking in his ways and by not being obedient to his law (Isa 42:24).

Let me add: lest God not only punish us in the sight of the wicked and by their hand, but also embolden them to say that it was God who set them on. Yes, lest they make these unrepented sins of ours not only their byword against us to later generations, but also their argument to one another for justifying all the evil they will be allowed to do to us. For when people ask them, “Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?” (Deut 29:24; 1 Kgs 9:8; Jer 22:8), they will say, “Even because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, and walked not in his ways.”

John Bunyan

And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2 Tim 2:19)

Timothy, to whom this letter was written, was an evangelist. That is, he ranked below the apostles and the extraordinary prophets, and above ordinary pastors and teachers (2 Tim 4:5; Eph 4:11). He, with the rest of those in his position, was to go here and there with the apostles, to be placed by them as they saw need, for the further building up of those who had been converted to the faith through the apostles’ ministry. That is why Titus was left at Crete, and why this Timothy was left at Ephesus (1 Tim 1:3). For they were to do a work for Christ in the world which the apostles were to begin and then leave in their hands to finish. Now when the apostles left a place and put these evangelists there in their stead, some men of a bad spirit usually arose among the people where the evangelists had been left to further the faith. This is plain from both letters to Timothy, and also from the letter to Titus.

Therefore Paul, under whom these two evangelists served in fulfilling their ministry, wrote to them while they stayed where he had left them. He wrote concerning the turbulent spirits they met with, and to teach them how they ought to behave themselves further in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth (1 Tim 3:15). To this end he gives each of them various instructions, as the discerning reader may easily see. By these he encourages them to carry on the service they had to do for Christ among the people where he had left them. He also instructs them how to conduct themselves toward those who troubled them, and this last he does not only by teaching, but also by showing them, through his own example and practice, what he would have them do.

This done, he labors to comfort Timothy by reminding him how steadfast God’s eternal decree of election is, since it is grounded on his foreknowledge. He says that though Hymenaeus and Philetus have erred from the faith, and by their fall have overthrown the faith of some, “yet the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.” Now lest this last hint should still encourage some to be careless, carnally complacent, and foolish (as I suppose this doctrine, when abused, had encouraged them to be before), the apostle immediately joins this exhortation to it: “And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” Here are two truths joined together strangely, but necessarily, because the children of men are so apt to pull them apart. For many, on the pretense that they are elected, neglect to pursue holiness; and many others, who claim to be for holiness, completely shut out the doctrine of election and the motives it gives to holiness.

Therefore the apostle, to set people’s notions right about these things, joins the two together. By this he shows that as electing love puts a man in possession of the blessing of eternal life, so holiness is the path to it. He shows, too, that whoever refuses to depart from iniquity will be damned, even though he may think himself secured from hell by the act of God’s electing love. For election appoints men not only to eternal glory, but also to holiness of life as a means to it (Eph 1:4-5).

And we should take all the more notice of the way these truths are joined, because the apostle seems to join them in a holy heat of spirit, saying, “The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.” And then: let everyone who so much as names the name of Christ depart from iniquity! It is as if he said, God will take vengeance on them all the same, even though they claim the benefits of election for themselves.

In the text we have, first, an exhortation, and second, the extension of that exhortation. The exhortation is that men depart from iniquity. Its extension is to them, all of them, every one of them that name the name of Christ: “And let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity.”

The Exhortation: Depart from Iniquity

In the exhortation there are several things to take notice of, because the apostle implies them. The first is that iniquity is a very dangerous and harmful thing to the souls of sinners in general, and so also to those who name the name of Christ.

First, iniquity is a very dangerous and harmful thing to people in general. For it is what took the world captive at the beginning and made it a slave to the devil. It has also done great harm to mankind ever since. To give a few instances:

1. It is what has dulled and stupefied the powers of men’s souls, and made them next to a beast or a brute in all matters supernatural and heavenly (2 Pet 2:12). For as the beast by nature cares for nothing but its lusts and its belly, so man, because of iniquity, cares for nothing but things earthly, sensual, and devilish.

2. It has blinded and darkened the powers of the soul, so that the soul can see neither where it is nor which way leads out of this stupefied condition (Eph 4:18).

3. It has hardened the heart against God, and against all admonition and counsel in the things of the gospel of Christ (Rom 2:5).

4. It has turned the will, the mind, and the affections away from choosing the things that would save the soul, and has won them over to a hearty delight in the things that naturally tend to drown it in perdition and destruction (Col 1:21).

5. It has made man hateful in God’s eyes. It has provoked God’s justice against him and made him liable to hell-fire (Ezek 16:5).

6. Yes, it so holds him, so binds him, so reserves him for this, that neither he himself nor all the angels of heaven can deliver him from this deplorable condition (Prov 5:22).

7. And that is to say nothing of the pleasure and delight it makes him take in the way to hell in which he walks (Isa 66:3; Prov 7:22-23). No fat ox ever went so frisking to the slaughterhouse, no fool ever went so merrily to his punishment in the stocks, no silly bird ever went so carelessly into the hidden net, as iniquity makes men go down her steps to the pit of hell and damnation.

O, it is amazing, it is astonishing to consider what harm sin has done to man, and into how many dangers it has brought him! But let these few hints be enough on this point for now. I will now say a word on the other particular, namely:

Second, that as iniquity is dangerous and harmful to the souls of men in general, so it is to those who name the name of Christ. As for the particular manner of naming him, I will speak to that shortly. For now, take it this way: I mean those who religiously name his name. And I say that iniquity is harmful to them.

1. It plucks many of them away from Christ and from the religious profession of him. I have actually seen men who had devoutly and religiously professed Jesus Christ prevailed on by iniquity to throw him off entirely, along with the profession of his name, and to turn their backs on him. “Israel,” says the prophet, “hath cast off the thing that is good” (Hos 8:3). But why? “Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols” (Hos 8:4). The sin of idolatry drew their hearts from God; their love of that iniquity made them turn their backs on him. That is why God complains that, out of eagerness for their iniquity and through its power over them, they had cast him behind their back (Ezek 23:35).

2. As it plucks many a professor away from Christ, so it keeps many from effectually closing with him. How many there are who religiously profess and speak of the name of Christ, and yet, out of love for iniquity and because of the hold it has on their affections, never close with him to salvation! They are like those you read of in Paul’s letter to Timothy, who are ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim 3:1-7).

3. And as for those who have indeed come to him, who have effectually closed with him, and who name his name to good purpose, yet how iniquity has hurt and abused many of them!

(1) It has prevailed with God to hide his face from them, a thing more bitter than death.

(2) It has prevailed with God to chastise them and afflict them sorely, a thing in which he takes no pleasure (Lam 3:33).

(3) It has provoked God to give them over into the hand of the enemy and to deliver them to the tormentors (Jer 12:7; Matt 18:34).

(4) It has brought them to question their interest in Christ, and whether they ever had grace in their souls (Ps 31:22).

(5) And as for those who still believed they were in his favor, this iniquity has driven them to fear that God would cast them away and take all his good things from them (Ps 51).

Yes, whoever wants to know the harm iniquity has done to those who name the name of Christ, let him consider the cries, the sighs, the tears, the moanings, the wailings, the lamentations, the sorrows, the confessions, the repentings and griefs that have come with it. For they have complained that they have been put in the stocks, laid in the dungeon, had their bones broken, suffered the terrors of God, been distressed almost to destruction, and been fed with gravel, gall, wormwood, and the wine of astonishment, for days, yes, for years together (Job 13:27; Ps 6:6; Ps 31:9-10; Ps 38:8; Ps 60:3; Ps 88; Ps 116:3; Jer 8:14; Jer 23:15; Jer 31:18; Lam 3:4, 16; Ezek 4:16; 2 Cor 12:21). By all these, and many more that might be mentioned, it appears that iniquity is a dangerous and harmful thing.

The Extension: Everyone Who Names the Name of Christ

But I proceed, and come next to the extension of the exhortation, namely, that it reaches to all who name the name of Christ: “And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

To handle this a little, and to show you what the apostle means here by naming the name of Christ: he does not mean an irreligious naming of that worthy name, nor those who name it irreligiously. This is evident, because he passes over their manner of naming it without the least reproof, which he would not have done if the fault had been in their manner of naming the name of Christ. Now I say, if he does not intend those who name the name of Christ irreligiously, then the exhortation is limited. Though its words, “let every one,” seem to extend to all, and to every sort of person who in any way names the name of Christ, it is still limited to those who name his worthy name rightly, religiously, or after the manner of those who profess Christ. And it must be taken this way, for these reasons:

First, because, as I said before, the apostle takes no notice of their manner of naming his name so as to reprove any indecency or unseemliness in it. Therefore he approves of the manner in which they name him.

Second, because the apostle’s design in this exhortation was, and is, that the naming of the name of Christ might be accompanied by such a life of holiness as might put an added luster on that name whenever it is named in a religious way. But this cannot apply to every manner of naming the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man names the name of Christ improperly or irreligiously, then however much he departs from iniquity along with it, and however careful he is, to the utmost, in all civility and morality, he still does not answer the end the apostle seeks by this exhortation. For:

1. Suppose a man should name the name of Christ vainly, idly, in vain mirth, in wantonness, in false or vain swearing, or the like, and should back up this manner of naming the name of Christ with every kind of justice and uprightness of life. Would this answer the apostle’s purpose in this exhortation? Truly, no. For this manner of naming the name deserves rebuke: “Thou shalt not take my name in vain” (Exod 20), or make vain use of it. And moral goodness accompanying such a naming of the name of Christ will do more harm than good.

2. There is a reproachful and scandalous naming of the name of Christ, such as the Jews and Pharisees made a habit of, as when they called him Jesus the deceiver, and called him Christ in scorn and contempt. Nor were these men entirely lacking in what put a luster on their opinions; for the Lord Christ himself said to them, “Ye indeed appear beautiful outward” (Matt 23:27).

3. There is such a naming of the name of Christ as makes it a cloak for false and dangerous errors, so that men, by using that name and putting it on such errors and delusions, may pass their errors off on others all the more easily. “Many shall come in my name” (Matt 24:5), that is, with their delusions, presenting them to the world in my name, and passing them off in my name, to the destruction of the soul. Now, can anyone imagine that the apostle would extend his exhortation to such people, so that, while they go on naming the name of Christ in this way, they should depart from iniquity? To what end should such people be included in this exhortation of his? To no purpose at all. For the more an erroneous person, or a deceiver of souls, backs up his errors with a life that is morally good, the more mischievous, dangerous, and damnable that man and his delusions are. Therefore such a person is not concerned in this exhortation.

4. There is a naming of the name of Christ magically, after the manner of exorcism or conjuring, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles. There the vagabond Jews, the exorcists, say, “We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth” (Acts 19:13-15). In this way they called the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits. But what if these men should clothe this devilish art, this devilish way of using or naming the name of the Lord Jesus, with departing from iniquity, so as to commend their whole life to bystanders as morally good? What advantage would Christ, or Paul, or the gospel gain by it? Truly none at all, but rather damage and reproach. This will soon be plain to anyone’s reason if he considers that goodness of life joined to badness of principles is like the devil clothed in white, or Satan transformed into an angel of light. And Paul was grieved in his spirit when the girl who had a spirit of divination acknowledged him to be the servant of the most high God. For he knew that it would do nothing to further or help forward the Lord’s design, but would rather be a hindrance to it. For when witches and devils once come to commend the name of Christ, or make use of it, Christ and Paul do not like it.

Therefore Paul’s exhortation, which the text sets before us here, is not extended to any of the four sorts named above. Rather, it is addressed:

Third, to those upon whom his name is called: they should depart from iniquity. I mean those whom God has so far honored as to put the name of Christ upon them (Acts 15:17). And I will add, those who apply that name to themselves. And the reason is that God is now concerned in the matter (Acts 11:26). God has changed your name from pagan to Christian, and you choose to call yourself by that name, saying, “I belong to Christ.” Now you must depart from iniquity, for both heaven and earth take notice that you have become a disciple. And “let every one that” so “nameth the name of Christ,” or that names it having been put into such circumstances as these by God and by himself, “depart from iniquity” (1 Pet 4:16).

Fourth, it is spoken to those who name the name of Christ in either the public or the private worship of God, being themselves professed worshipers of him. And the reason is that the ordinances, as well as the name of God, are holy, and “he will be sanctified in them that come nigh him” (Lev 10:3). Therefore whoever approaches the presence of Christ in prayer, or in any other divine appointment, must take care not to regard “iniquity in his heart” (Ps 66:18). Otherwise the Lord will stop his ears to his prayers, will shut his eyes, and will take no notice of such worship or such worshipers.

Fifth, those whom the apostle here exhorts to depart from iniquity are those who have taken upon themselves the boldness to say that they are in him, that they abide in him, and that they have consequently been made partakers of the benefits that are in him. “He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6). And the reason is that Christ is a fruitful root and a free conveyer of sap into the branches. Hence it is written that “the trees of the Lord are full of sap” (Ps 104:16). So then, whoever names the name of Christ by applying Christ’s benefits to himself, reckoning that God finds him in Christ and that he so abides, ought himself to walk even as Christ walked. He must do so that he may prove what he says to be true, by bearing before men that likeness of righteousness that is in his root and stem. For as the stock or tree is, so let the branches be; but that cannot be known except by the fruit: “ye shall know them by their fruit” (Matt 7:16). So then, whoever names the name of Christ in this way, let him depart from iniquity; yes, let every such man do so.

Sixth, this exhortation is spoken to those who name Christ as their Sovereign Lord and King: let them “depart from iniquity.” “The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; he will save us” (Isa 33:22). These are great words. And as not everyone can speak them, so those who can ought not to speak them lightly. Nor may the one who claims so high a privilege be anything but obedient, submissive, and ready to learn, conscientiously putting into practice what he has learned from his Judge, his Lawgiver, and his King. Otherwise, when some hear him say that Christ by name is his Lawgiver and his King, and yet see him do evil things and walk in ways that are not good, they will think evil of his King and speak evil of him too. They will say, “Did you learn this from Christ your King? Does your King approve of you in such bad ways? Or is this how you submit to your King’s laws, by doing these things?” Yes, your King, his name and his gospel will bear the burden of the evil, together with its shame, if you who name the name of Christ do not depart from iniquity.

Lastly, whoever the man may be who, by naming the name of Christ, implies that he has any loving reverence for, or delight in, that Christ whose name he names, that man should depart from iniquity. He should do so not only for the reasons mentioned above, but also for those that may be named afterward.

But having thus far opened the word, and shown whom, and what sort of man, the apostle had in view in this exhortation, I will next make some observations on the text, as follows.

People are liable to name the name of Christ religiously, that is, rightly as far as words and notions go, and yet not to “depart from iniquity.”

This was what gave rise to this exhortation, for Paul saw that there were some who did so; that is, who named the name of Christ well as far as words went, but did not depart from iniquity. He found some such people among the Corinthians too, which made him say, “Awake to righteousness, and sin not” (1 Cor 15:34). He found such at Ephesus, and cried out to them most earnestly, saying, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead” (Eph 5:14). For although they were professors of Christ, they still lived too much like those who were dead in trespasses and sins. He found this among the Hebrews as well, and so he says to them, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Heb 12:1). These professors were easily beset with sin. Indeed, it hung on them like weights, to hinder them from making their profession of Christ, whose name they named, as beautiful as befitted both him and them.

In my discussion of this subject I must try to show you two things. First, what Paul means when he says, “depart from iniquity.” Second, why some who, as far as words go, rightly name the name of Christ, do not “depart from iniquity.”

The first of these needs some explanation, because in some sense even the best of saints cannot depart from sin, or iniquity.

1. For as to its being, sin is seated and rooted in their flesh, and has its dwelling there. Yes, it has, and will have, a lasting home there as long as a person is on this side of that state of perfection which is not to be enjoyed while we are in the flesh. “For in me, that is, in my flesh,” sin dwells (Rom 7:18), nor does anything but sin dwell there. “For in me, that is, in my flesh,” said Paul, “dwelleth no good thing.” Therefore the apostle must not be understood as if he meant to suggest that the nature and being of sin could possibly be plucked up by the roots and so thrown clean away from us, as to its very nature. No, that will stay with us, for it has its dwelling in us.

2. And as they cannot depart from the nature of sin as such, that is, as they cannot be rid of its being, so neither can they depart from the motions and stirrings of sin, any more than they can get away from the motions or stirrings of their natural senses or of their natural reason. The motions of sin, which Paul also calls its lusts, will be wherever the nature and being of sin is, because it is not dead. For whatever lives, whatever kind of life it has, will have motion according to the kind of life it has. And sin, being one of the most lively and brisk things there is, will also have its motions and lusts accordingly. That is why Paul says it lusts, and will lust, wherever it is and dwells, even though the very Spirit of God and the utmost diligence of a Christian are also there to oppose it (Rom 6:12; Gal 5:17).

3. Again, just as the being and motions of sin will be with us, so will its endeavors. It will try to overcome us, and to make us captives to itself and to Satan, and these endeavors will be with us (Eph 6:11-12; 2 Cor 10:5; Heb 12:4). Nor can we depart from iniquity so far as to be completely rid of all sense and feeling of the efforts that sin and iniquity make to be master and lord, and to reign. Sin will try to defile the mind, to defile the conscience, to defile the life and conduct. And this endeavor, as an endeavor, we cannot depart from; that is, we cannot make it not be in our flesh. For there it will be, since sin in its being is there.

4. As the being, motions and endeavors of sin will still remain in our flesh, so consequently its polluting fumes will be upon us. Nor does the apostle mean, when he tells us to depart from iniquity, that we should think we can so be, or so act, in this life that our being or doing will not smell of the strong scent of sin. “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one” (Job 14:4). “We are all as an unclean thing,” and therefore “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa 64:6). The scent, the smell, the rank and odious stink of sins clings to us, yes, and will cling to us, even when we are most spiritual here, and to our most spiritual actions too, until they are taken away by Christ.

To this extent, then, the exhortation cannot concern us. For if Paul were to exhort us to depart from the being, motion, endeavor, and polluting fumes and scent of sin (I mean to depart from them in such a way that no such thing would have any place, or motion, or striving, or scent in us or upon us), he would be exhorting us to something altogether impossible for us to perform. Yes, impossible to perform even through that working of the Spirit of God which is to be with us and in us here. Indeed, he would have to be exhorting us to something he could not perform himself. But such exhortations did not fit the wisdom of an apostle. There is, therefore, a definite meaning in this exhortation, and if we swerve from it, we shall wrong both the apostle and ourselves.

First, then, let us inquire what Paul means when he tells those “that name the name of Christ” to “depart from iniquity.” For our better understanding of him, we must consider that there is an iniquity that is inherent in us, and an iniquity that is apart from us and at a distance from us. Now if he means, as he certainly does, that those who name the name of Christ should depart from the sin and iniquity that is in themselves, then, though he cannot mean that we should separate that from our persons (for that is impossible), still he would have us do the following.

First, he would have us take off and withdraw our minds and affections from it. And he tells us that those who are Christ’s do so: “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal 5:24). Sinful lusts and sinful motions: our minds and affections should depart from them. There are the affections and lusts of sin; there are the affections and lusts, or desires, of the soul; and again, there are the affections and lusts of the new man in the saints. Now this is what the apostle wants: that the affections and passions of our souls should have no choice but to depart from the affections and lusts of our old man, and should be renewed and made willing to be led away from them by the Holy Spirit. “This I say,” he says, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal 5:16).

So when he says, depart from iniquity, if he means from our own inherent iniquity, then he must mean this: take your mind and your affections off it; carry your minds away from it; set your minds and affections on other objects; and let your minds and affections be yielded up to the guidance of the word and Spirit of God. “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof” (Rom 6:12). Now a man may, in mind and affections, depart from what will not depart from him. Yes, a man may in his mind depart from what will dwell in him as long as he lives.

For instance, there are many diseases that cling to people, from which they willingly depart in their minds. Indeed, their greatest distress is that so bad an ailment will stay with them. If they could only have their wish, they would be as far from it as the ends of the earth are apart. And while the two are found to continue together, the mind departs from it, and goes either to God or to physicians for help and deliverance from it.

And so it is with the saint, and so it should be with everyone who by way of profession names the name of Christ: he should depart from his indwelling sin with his mind. With his mind he should “serve the law of God” (Rom 7:25). And this is an excellent thing to do, and can be done by none but those who are possessed of an excellent spirit. Ah! To find a man who really departs from himself, and who draws the affections of his soul away from the affections and lusts of his flesh, is a rare thing (Ezek 11:19-21). The hearts of most professors go after their detestable lusts and after their inward abominations. But such people shall “of the flesh reap corruption,” even though they name the name of Christ (Gal 6:8).

Sin is sweet to him who is nothing but flesh, or who can savor nothing but what is of the flesh (Job 20:12). Nor is it possible for such a person to depart from himself, his sweet self (Rom 8:5-8). No, those who are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh. Therefore those who are in the flesh, though they profess religion and name the name of Christ, cannot please God. For instead of walking in and after the Spirit, such people have set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces, to hinder their departing from it (Ezek 14:7-8). Nor will all their inquiring of God, nor their seeking and praying to him, keep them from stumbling and falling and splitting themselves apart on the rocks and ruins that are provided for them as a reward for the evil of their doings (Job 14:16). Yes, they shall suck the poison of asps, and the viper’s tongue shall slay them, for all their profession.

Question. But someone may say, “How shall I know that I do depart from the iniquity of my flesh, from the iniquity that is in me?”

Answer. I shall answer this question briefly, as follows.

(1) How does iniquity look in your eyes when it is separated from the guilt and punishment that come with it? Considered as separate from these, is it beautiful or ugly? I am asking you how it looks, and how you like it, supposing there were no guilt or punishment to follow your loving it or committing it. For if in its own nature it is desirable to your mind, and you shun it only for fear of the punishment that follows the committing of it, then without doubt you are not one of those who depart from it. All you do is shun the sin, not out of abhorrence of the sin, but for fear of the punishment that comes with it. You are like the thief who still refuses to take away his neighbor’s horse, not out of hatred of theft, but for fear of the gallows.

(2) How do you like yourself, considered as possessed of a body of sin, and as feeling and finding that sin is at work in your members? Does this give you an inward pleasure of mind and a kind of secret sweetness, or what? For you may be sure that where there is a sanctified mind, there is nothing more odious in itself, and nothing that makes a man so odious in his own eyes, as this sight: the sight of sin in him, of lust working in him (Job 42:6; Ezek 16:63; Rom 6:12). It is this that makes the good man ashamed, that makes him blush, and that makes him abhor himself.

(3) How do your duties look in your eyes? I mean the duties you perform in the service of God. I ask, how do the best of these look, the warmest and most spiritual of them, since not one of them can be performed without catching the stain of sin, as coming from you? Or are you, through the ignorance that is in you, like one who knows nothing of these things?

(4) Why would you go to heaven? Is it because you want to be saved from hell, or because you want to be freed from sin? I say, would you go to heaven because it is a holy place, or because it is a place far removed from the pains of hell? I ask again, what do you think the blessedness of heaven consists in? Is it in the holiness that is there, or in the freedom from hell that is there? There is not a man alive who would not go to heaven so that he may be saved from hell. But how many would go there so that they might be saved from the pleasures of sin, from the inward pleasure of sin? Of that I will be silent, though surely those are the ones who are out of love with sin, and who do depart from iniquity.

Truly, my brothers, it is a great thing to depart from iniquity; it is a great thing to have my will, my mind and my affections departing from it. But there is more.

Second, as those who depart from iniquity withdraw their minds and affections from its lusts and motions, so they also depart from the occasions of it. There are occasions by which sin works to bring forth its fruits, and some people seek those occasions (Rom 14:13; 1 Tim 5:14). But he who has set himself to depart from sin within himself will not seek occasions from outside to do it. The man who will keep far from an evil matter (Exod 23:7) will not keep company with a person who pollutes and defiles, nor will he come near the door of the adulteress’s house (Prov 5:8). He will shun profane and vain babbling for fear of the ungodliness that comes with it (2 Tim 2:16). He will walk with wise men so that he may be wise, knowing that “a companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Prov 13:20).

Now there are occasions given and occasions taken to sin against the Lord Jesus, but he who departs from iniquity departs from both. He is not one to give others any occasion to sin. He would rather wrong himself, and put up with injuries done to him, than give others occasion to commit iniquity. And as he is for giving none, so neither is he for taking any. He will share in no man’s sins, but will keep himself pure (1 Tim 5:22).

Third, to depart from iniquity is to depart from it in the examples of it that are set before us. Occasions and examples are sometimes the same, but there may be occasions to sin where there are no examples of it, and in that respect they differ. And to depart from iniquity is to shun and depart from those examples, those beastly examples, that present themselves to people in every corner of the country.

Examples of drunkenness; examples of whoring; examples of swearing, lying, stealing, Sabbath-breaking, pride, covetousness, deceit, hypocrisy, and what not, are common among people these days. And anyone who is still at a loss in this matter, and does not know how to be expertly base, may find patterns and examples of it in every hole. But to depart from iniquity is to depart from sinful examples, to shut the eyes to them, to turn the back on them, and to cry out to heaven for grace to be kept in the path of life. And “let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Tim 2:19).

Fourth, to depart from iniquity is to depart from the enticements to iniquity. There is something in iniquity that is enticing by nature. Its pleasures, profits, honors, delights and sweetnesses are enticing, and he who hankers after these has not departed, and is not departing, from iniquity. A man must be weaned from these things, and must find something somewhere else that is better than they are; otherwise he cannot depart from iniquity.

Question. But someone may say, “I go away from it, and it follows me. I reject it, and it comes back on me. I have told it no a thousand times, and still it offers itself and its deceits to me again. What would you have me do?”

Answer. I would answer like this. Departing from iniquity is not the work of an hour, or a day, or a week, or a month, or a year. It is a work that will last you your whole lifetime, and there lies its greatness and difficulty. If it could be done at once, or if the work were quickly over, how many would be found to have departed from iniquity! But because it is a work of continuance, and worth nothing unless people hold out to the end, that is why so few are found to be doers of it or overcomers in it. With many, departing from iniquity is only like the falling-out of two neighbors: they hate one another for a while, and then renew their old friendship again.

But again, since departing from iniquity is a work of time, of all your time, no wonder if it dogs you and keeps offering to come back on you again and again. For it is mischievous, and seeks nothing less than your ruin. Therefore you must, in the first place, take it for granted that this is how it will be, and so cry all the harder to God for the continuance of his presence and grace with you in this blessed work, so that, just as you have begun to call on the name of the Lord Jesus and begun to depart from iniquity, you may have strength to go on doing it to the last gasp of your life.

And further, because departing from iniquity is a kind of warfare with it (for iniquity will hang on in your flesh as much as it can, and will not easily be kept under), no wonder if you find it wearisome work, and find that the thing you want to be rid of is so unwilling to let you depart from it.

And since the work is so weighty, and makes you go groaning on, I will give you here, for your help, a few things to consider. And remember:

1. Remember that God sees you, and has his eyes open on you, even at the very moment when sin and temptation are pressing you to give them some welcome. This was what made Joseph depart from it when he was urged to embrace it by a very powerful argument (Gen 39:6-7).

2. Remember that God’s wrath burns against it, and that he will surely take vengeance on it and on all who welcome it. This made Job afraid to favor it, and set him on departing from it: “For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure” (Job 31:23).

3. Remember the mischief it has done to those who have embraced it, and what distress it has brought on others. This made the whole congregation of Israel tremble to think that any of their brothers should favor it (Josh 22:16-18).

4. Remember what Christ has suffered because of it, so that he might deliver us from its power. This made Paul depart from it so heartily, and wish all Christians to do so as well as he (2 Cor 5:14).

5. Remember that those who are now in hellfire went there because they loved iniquity and would not depart from it (Ps 9:17; Ps 11:6).

6. Remember that a profession is not worth a pin if those who make it do not depart from iniquity (Jas 2:16-17).

7. Remember that your deathbed will be very uneasy for you if on that day your conscience is clogged with the guilt of your iniquity (Hos 7:13-14).

8. Remember that on the judgment day Christ will say, “Depart from me,” to those who have not departed from their sin and iniquity here (Luke 13:27; Matt 25:41).

Lastly, remember well, and think much about, what a blessed reward the Son of God will give on that day to those who have joined to their profession of faith in him a holy and blessed life.

Having thus briefly shown you these things, I shall come in the next place to the second thing.

Second, I am to show you why some who, as far as words go, rightly name the name of Christ do not depart from iniquity. I have already proved that it happens to people to name the name of Christ religiously and yet not depart from iniquity. Now I must show you why it is so, and the reasons are of three sorts.

First, some profess him who do not have saving faith in him, and have not received grace from him. I will first make it plain that some profess him who have no faith in him and have received no grace from him. After that I will show that they do not depart from iniquity.

To see that the first is true, consider this. Christ says to his disciples, “There are some of you that believe not.” And again, “For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him” (John 6:64). Now if they do not believe, they have none of his grace in them. For faith is the first and chief grace, the beginning and leading grace; so whoever is destitute of that is empty of all the rest. Other scriptures confirm this truth as well. James calls some of the professors of Christ in his day vain or empty men (Jas 2:20), that is, men void of grace. And in the very words that follow the text, the apostle suggests that just as there are golden and silver saints in God’s house, so there are also earthy and wooden ones. For “in a great house,” as God’s is, “are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor” (2 Tim 2:20). That is, some for heaven and some for hell (Rom 9:20-23).

Now it is these wooden and earthy professors that he aims at in the text: they must depart from iniquity, or else their profession will do them no good. These are also the ones he despairs of in the next words, as if he said: In this great house of God there will be not only golden and silver Christians, but wooden and earthy ones too. And if anyone purges himself from these, from these men’s company and from these men’s vices, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, fit for the master’s use, and prepared for every good work. From all this we gather that there are some who name the name of Christ by way of profession who have neither faith nor grace in them, and who therefore, as a consequence, do not depart from iniquity.

For these people lack the principle, that holy and blessed principle, that should lead them to depart from it. I mean the great and principal graces of the Spirit, and there are four of them.

1. As I have said, they lack faith, that heart-purifying grace, for the heart is purified by faith (Acts 15:9). I have already shown you that departing from iniquity must be done with the mind and affections, that is, with the heart. But how can that happen where the heart is not sanctified and made holy? An unsanctified mind can no more depart from iniquity than the Ethiopian can change his skin (Jer 13:23). But nothing can purify the heart except faith. Therefore nothing can make a professor depart from iniquity where faith is missing. So then, when people openly profess the name of Christ without having a holy faith in him, they still stay by their iniquity. They do not depart from it; rather, they make their profession a cloak for their iniquity, for their malice, for their covetousness, and the like (1 Thess 2:5; 1 Pet 2:16).

It is not profession but faith that brings God and the soul together. And as long as God and the soul are at a distance, whatever profession is made, there is no departing, no heart-departing, from iniquity. That is why James writes to such professors, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded” (Jas 4:8). People far from God cannot think of him reverently, nor speak of him and profess him in a way that fits the nature of gospel religion. That is why God says, “draw near hither,” that is, by faith; and again, “let them come near, then let them speak,” then let them profess (Isa 41:1). Without faith a man cannot please God, because without it he cannot stand before him in the spotless righteousness of Christ, nor depart from iniquity and live a holy life (Heb 11:6).

There are three things in faith that tend directly to make a person depart from iniquity. (1) Faith grasps the truth of the being and greatness of God, and so it fills a man’s spirit with awe. (2) It grasps the love of this God in Christ, and so it conquers and overcomes a man’s spirit. (3) It grasps the sweetness and blessedness of the nature of the Godhead, and from there it persuades the soul to desire communion with him here, so that it may be holy, and the enjoyment of him when this world is ended, so that it may be happy in him and by him forever.

But without faith these things cannot be grasped. Therefore those who lack it, whatever their profession may be, will not depart from iniquity.

2. They lack repentance. Repentance is another of the great and principal graces that the Holy Spirit works in the heart. So without this, too, there can be no departing from iniquity. It is useless to expect it of anyone, however stately and grand his profession may be, if he is a stranger to sound repentance. How many there are in our day, now that the gospel has grown so common, who catch up a notion of good things, and from that notion make a profession of the name of Christ, get into churches, and obtain the title of a brother, a saint, a member of a gospel congregation, and yet have escaped repentance altogether! I say, they have caught up a notion of good things, and on the strength of that they have ventured to name the name of Christ, quite forgetting to take repentance with them. Repentance should be, and is, one of the first steps into a true gospel profession (Mark 1:15). But some know nothing of it until they come to the end of everything, when their repentance will do them no good.

There is no repentance except where the true fear of God is; indeed, the fear of God is one ground of repentance (Prov 3:7; Prov 16:6). Repentance is the scouring grace; it is what purges. Repentance is, if I may call it so, that bitter pill without whose taking and sound working the base and sinful humors will stay in the soul unstirred, unpurged, and undriven out. Can there be repentance where there is no godly sorrow? Or can there be repentance where the fruits of repentance are missing? Oh, the fruits of repentance! Preachers sow them thick, but they come up thin (Mark 1:4-5; Rom 6:21; Jer 7:3, 5). Where are the fruits of repentance to be found? Confession of sin is one fruit of repentance. Shame for sin is another fruit of repentance. Amendment of life is another fruit of repentance. Restitution for swindling, cheating, defrauding, or deceiving your neighbor is another fruit of repentance (Luke 19:5-8). Indeed, if you would see the fruits of repentance as the Holy Spirit describes them and puts them together, to further convict and shame the impenitent professor, look into 2 Corinthians 7:9-11.

But this is a day such as no one ever read of, a day in which conversion is common without repentance, such a conversion as that is! And that is why the church of God now swarms with people who religiously name the name of Christ and yet do not depart from iniquity. Alas! Every house, every table, every shop has the sign of a lack of repentance hanging up in it. To say nothing of the talk, the beds and the backs of most who profess: by which of these do one in a thousand of the men, and one in ten thousand of the women, show that they have repentance (Eccl 7:27-28)? No wonder, then, that the name of Christ is so often mentioned where iniquity dwells, and even reigns, and that with the consent of the mind.

I would not be harsh. But if wearing gold, putting on fine clothes, dressing up houses, decking out children, learning compliments, boldness in women, lechery in men, wanton behavior, lascivious words and tempting bearing were signs of repentance, then I would have to say that the fruits of repentance swarm in our land. But if these are no fruits of repentance, then oh, the multitude of professors who religiously name the name of Christ and do not depart from iniquity!

3. They lack love. But love is another of those great and principal graces that the Holy Spirit works in the heart. So let a profession be as high as it will, yet if love is missing, you may be sure such professors do not “depart from iniquity” (1 Cor 13). That is why all profession, and all submitting to a profession, are counted as nothing where there is no love. Love is counted a most infallible sign that a man is in a state of salvation. “He that loveth dwells in God, is born of God, and knoweth him” (1 John 4:7, 16, 21).

Love divides itself in two: toward God and toward my neighbor. Love to God is this, that we keep his sayings, his commandments, his laws. “If a man love me,” says Christ, “he will keep my words … and he that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings” (John 14:23-24). “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). So then, the professor who does not have love cannot depart from iniquity. (1) Where there is no love, people cannot be tender of the name of God; they are not grieved because others do not keep God’s law (Ps 119:136; 1 Cor 13:5). (2) Where there is no love, people cannot deny themselves things they might otherwise lawfully do, for fear that the weak should fall and the world be destroyed (Rom 14:15). (3) Where there is love to God, there is hatred against iniquity: “ye that love the Lord, hate evil” (Ps 97:10).

A man cannot love God who does not love holiness. He does not love holiness who does not love God’s word. He does not love God’s word who does not do it. It is a common thing to find people partial in God’s law, setting great store by small things and neglecting the weightier matters, paying tithes of mint and anise and cummin, and neglecting the weightier matters. These people turn the tables of God’s book upside down, making little laws out of great ones and great ones out of little ones, counting half an hour of bodily service better than a moral life. Love! Love has gone out of the country: love to the teaching of the first table of the law, and love to the teaching of the second table. Oh, how many professors are counted in God’s eyes as no more than sounding brass, for lack of this ornament, love (1 Cor 13)!

To say nothing of the first table, where is the man whose love is shown by the second? Where are those who feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared? Where is Paul, who would not eat meat while the world stands, lest he make his brother stumble (1 Cor 8:13)? Where is Dorcas, with the garments she used to make for the widow and the fatherless (Acts 9:36-39)? Yes, where is the rich man who, as far as his means go, dares to say what Job says, as recorded in Job 30:25; Job 31:13, 32? Love! Love is gone, and now coveting, pinching, grasping and such things are in fashion. Now iniquity abounds instead of grace in many who name the name of Christ. They lack love, and therefore they cannot depart from iniquity.

4. They lack hope. Hope is another of those great and principal graces that the Holy Spirit works in the heart. Without it, let a man be as high in profession as he will, and as open in naming the name of Christ as he will, he cannot depart from iniquity. What was said before of faith we now say of hope: “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). Here that excellent office, or rather effect, of hope is made plain. It purifies; it cleanses a man. It makes him take the Lord Jesus as his example as well as his Savior. He purifies himself even as Christ is pure; that is, in soul, in body, in spirit, in life and conduct. The hope of eternal life by Christ makes a man purify himself by obeying the truth through the Spirit. Hope of being with Christ hereafter will make me strive to be like him here. Hope of being with angels then will make a man strive to live like an angel here.

Alas! Alas! There is a company of half-priests in the world, and they cannot, they dare not, teach the people the whole counsel of God, because in doing so they would condemn themselves and their manner of living in the world. Where is the minister to be found now who dares to say to his people, Look at me, and walk as you have me for an example (Phil 3:17)? Or who dares to say, What you see and hear in me, do, “and the God of peace shall be with you” (Phil 4:9)? These men had hope, and hope purified them into an example, until they became patterns for others. Is not this now far from some professors in the world? Are they purified, are they clean, those who name the name of Christ? Are they weaned from that milk and drawn from the breasts? No, nor is their profession accompanied by grace. They name the name of Christ; well and good, but they do not depart from iniquity.

Let a man believe a lie, and his obedience will match the reality of his belief. Let a man hope for something he has no ground to hope for, and still his hope will work in him according to its power. And yet we have a generation of people who profess the blessed gospel, which gives the most substantial ground for faith and hope. Yes, we have a company of people who will keep naming the name of Christ, which is the sweetest, most winning and most desirable name ever named among the sons of men, and for all that, neither this gospel, nor this worthy name, nor even their naming of it, makes them depart from iniquity. But what is the reason? Why, they have taken up a profession, but they lack the grace of Christ: the faith, the repentance, the love and the hope of the gospel. No wonder, then, if they remain among the wooden sort of professors. No wonder, then, if the iniquity of their heels still follows them, and drips from them wherever they go. But so much for the first reason why people name the name of Christ and yet do not depart from iniquity.

The second reason why some who name the name of Christ do not depart from iniquity is this: though they do not rest in bare notions, as those I spoke of before, yet they stop, as those did, short of the saving grace of God. There are bare notions, there are common workings, and there is a work that is saving, a work that will do the soul good for eternity.

1. There are bare notions, and those who have them are people to whom the gospel comes in word only (1 Thess 1:5; 1 Cor 4:19-20). Their religion stands in word only, and is not attended with a matching power. That is, no power goes along with the word strong enough to subdue the heart and bring it over to a heartfelt and gracious embrace of the word that comes to them. Yet such is the noise and sound of the word that they are willing to become professors of it. There is a kind of musicalness in it, especially when it is well handled and fingered by a skillful preacher. And look what God says to such preachers when their audience is made up of hearers like these: “And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song,” or as one who sings a song of loves, “of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words but they do them not” (Ezek 33:30-32).

2. But then, besides these, there is another sort, and they go further than the first. For to them the word came not in word only, but also in power, though not in that power, or in such a power, as is absolutely sufficient, against every attempt whatever, to bring the soul to glory. We read of these in several places: they have tasted of the powers of the world to come, but not in such a way as to bring them safe to glory. Yet this far they go.

(1) They attain light, or illumination, by which they see much of their state by nature (Heb 6:4).

(2) This light does not consist in bare speculation. It lets fall convincing arguments upon the conscience, to the bowing and humbling of the spirit (1 Kgs 21:27-29).

(3) They submit to these convictions and reform. For a time they may not only come out from those who live in error, but also escape the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet 2:18-20; Gal 3:4; Gal 4:20).

(4) Yes, this dispensation will be so powerful that it will prevail on them to do and to suffer many things in defense of the truth of the gospel they profess. For the word will be sweet to them. Christ, the gift of God, will be relished by them (Heb 6:4-5). The powers of the world to come will be in them. Some workings of the Holy Spirit will be in them. And joy, which is like oil to the wheels, will be with their souls (Luke 8:13).

This, I say, is how it is with some professors who still, for all their stir, cannot be said to depart from iniquity, because the things now upon them stay with them only a while. For awhile they believe: they rejoice in the light for a season (Luke 8:13; John 5:35; 2 Pet 2:21). So they clean escape from those who live in error for a little while, and after that they return to their old course, and are again entangled with their iniquities and overcome. This is called a turning with the dog to his own vomit again, and with the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire (2 Pet 2:22). And some of these are set forth by this saying and others like it: “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first” (Matt 12:43-45).

Now the causes of this decline, this turning back, this falling away again into iniquity, are many.

First cause. One is that this work, this work of power that they have been made partakers of, has not gone thoroughly enough over all the powers of their souls. Their understandings, their judgments and their consciences have been dealt with, but the power of God has not been upon their wills, their minds and their affections to subdue them rightly to the grace of the gospel (Ps 110:3). It is true that there seems to be a subjection of the will, and an overruling of the mind and the affections as well. Otherwise they could not for a time lay aside their iniquity, come away from the pollutions of the world, and for a season rejoice in the word and be pleased with its light. But we may consider that this may happen not because a sound work of God has passed upon these powers of the soul. Rather, it came about through the reflected influence that the understanding, now enlightened, the judgment, now informed, and the conscience, now convinced, had upon these other powers of the soul.

And I am the more inclined to think so because their willingness toward this gospel, their mindfulness of it and their affection for it lasted no longer than the light shone in their understandings, or than the things were relished by their judgment and conscience. So when the light of their candle went out, and the taste of this sugarplum was gone from their mouths, their wills and affections, not being possessed with the fear of God, returned to their old course, and they went off with iniquity as before.

Nor by anything I have said here do I lay blame or fault at God’s door. For:

1. He is a free agent, to do what he pleases. If he pleases, he may refuse to give anything at all; or if he gives something, why may he not also give what he pleases? He may give special grace to one, and to another what is not special. He may open Balaam’s eyes (Num 24:3) and open Lydia’s heart (Acts 16:14). He may give some only a taste (Heb 6) and cause others to eat abundantly (Song 5:1). He may allow some to fall away, and keep others by his power through faith to salvation.

2. Besides, as for God’s withdrawing of those common workings: even if they were withdrawn without any cause being given (which I still question), why may they not be withdrawn from these people as well as from his own special people? Anyone who does not know this knows very little: God often hides his face from his own, and also withdraws from them the light and great influences of the Holy Spirit. He turns them over, at least in their own apprehension, to the ungodly and to fallen angels, for their chastening, or trial, or instruction, and the like.

3. And these rebels had such workings in them that their minds were somewhat taken and allured by way of their understandings, and their wills and affections by way of their judgment and consciences. Since that is so, why may God not cause these things to be withdrawn as a trial, to see whether they would cry after him to return?

But we will let these things pass, and call you back to remember the matter in hand. We are now showing that there are those who name the name of Christ “that yet depart not from iniquity.” And in showing the cause of their not doing so, we said that one reason was that the gospel came to them in word only. The other was that, although it came to others in power, it did not come in the power, or in that power, which effectively keeps some to salvation. I am now on this second reason. I am showing how it comes about that those who are under the power of the things we have discussed should, in spite of that, return to their vomit again. I have just touched on one cause of this decline, this going back to iniquity, and there are some more still to come.

Second cause. And so, when the influences that are mighty upon them at present are withdrawn, such persons immediately forget both what they had and what work it made upon them. Straightaway they forget what manner of men they were. It is said of Israel that they sang his praises, but soon forgot his word. So it is with these: they forget.

1. They forget what light and what conviction they had.

2. They forget what sorrow for sin they had.

3. They forget what tastes of Christ and his word they had.

4. They forget what joy and comfort they had.

5. They forget how fair for heaven they were.

6. And they forget how cleansed they once were. “They have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins” (2 Pet 1:9).

Now forgetfulness makes past things as nothing. And if so, then it can lay no obligation on the mind to engage it to delight in those things and enjoy them, no, not even in thinking about them, as it would if we remembered them. Forgetfulness is a very dangerous thing. It makes preaching vain, profession vain, faith vain, and all to no purpose (1 Cor 15:1-2). Such a profession is only a dream, and such professors only dreamers: it all vanishes in the morning. This is what made Paul caution the Corinthians so carefully not to forget the preaching. It is also why the author to the Hebrews so earnestly calls them, in their backsliding, back to the remembrance of former days, and to recollect what it was that had then made them so willing to endure their great fight of affliction (Heb 10:32-33).

Forgetfulness, I say, makes things nothing. It makes us as if things had never been, and so takes away from the soul one great means of stay, support and encouragement. When David, that choice man, was downcast, the remembrance of the hill Hermon was his stay. When he was to go out against Goliath, the remembrance of the lion and the bear was his support. So too with those who have had the power of the things of God upon them: when those things are withdrawn, if they can think back on them, even the thinking of it will have some kind of effect upon the soul. And therefore you will find that the recovery of a backslider usually begins with the remembrance of former things. “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works” (Rev 2:5).

It is amazing to see how some men are held captive by this forgetfulness. Think of those who once prayed, cried, groaned and sighed for eternal life. Think of those who once thought no pains too much, no way too far, no hazard too great to run, for eternal life. Think of those who were once captivated by the word, and by its comforts and joy, and who, if it had been possible, would have pulled out their own eyes and given them to a gospel minister, so dear and sweet to them were the good tidings such ministers brought (Gal 4:14-15). I say it is amazing to see how such men are held captive by forgetfulness of all this. They are as if they had never been those men, as if they had never had such things, or as if they had never thought about them. Yes, they have become strangers, and they carry themselves like strangers toward all those who are still under the power of that word, and of that mighty hand by which they themselves were once guided.

Suppose someone were to say to some of them, “Aren’t you the man I once saw crying under a sermon? Aren’t you the one I once heard cry out, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ Didn’t I hear you, some time ago, speak well of the holy word of God?” How sideways they will look at you! Or if they will admit that such things were once with them, they do it more like statues and rejected ghosts than men. They look as if they were blasted, withered, cast out and dried to powder, and now fit for nothing but to be cast into the fire and burned (John 15:6). So much have the godliness they have departed from, and the iniquity they have joined themselves to again, altered, transformed and changed their hearts and minds and ways. This, then, is the second thing that shows why some who have been under something of the power of these things are again entangled with iniquity and overcome.

Third cause. Another thing that keeps these enlightened ones from continuing to depart from iniquity is the persecution that always attends the word. For persecution always does attend the word, whether persecution of the tongue or of the sword. Now these men who were once enlightened cannot remember what they themselves were, yet Satan helps them to think that their neighbors remember what they were. And having now lost the savor, the sense, of what they once had, and having sinned away the Spirit who brought it to them, they grow weak. Yes, above all men they are the least able to stand up and endure the shock and trial that is coming upon them for their profession. Therefore by and by they are offended, that is, offended with their own profession. They call themselves a hundred fools for being so heedless, so witless and so unwary as to concern themselves with God’s holy things in such a time and day (Mark 4:16-17; Luke 8:13).

Then they think to themselves about how to make an honorable retreat. As they suppose, they usually manage it by finding fault, first with their own rashness, and then with the over-persuasiveness of others. They also now begin to say farewell to conscience, yes, to God and heaven and all, and they join in league with the world again. So they are in fear where no fear is, and the sound of a shaken leaf chases them. And there are four things that cause this.

1. In spite of the power that once attended the word to their hearts, their hearts still remained as hard as a rock. There was no true and sound breaking or softening in them. Therefore the word lacked depth of earth there, as our Lord is pleased to call it; and soon, when the sun was up, what remained was quickly scorched, and so withered away.

2. Whatever they had once enjoyed, the grace of the fear of God was still lacking in them (Eccl 7:16-18). And lacking that, what was to hinder them from going back the way they came, and leaving Christ, the gospel and the people of God to shift for themselves as best they can?

3. All that they enjoyed did not estrange their hearts from their lusts, even though, when they were under the power of these things, they were deader to their lusts than they had been before. I say, than they had been before (Ps 78:30, 36-37). It is with such people as with those who are drawn off for a time from what they still love by some new employment they have taken up. Saul went out to look for David to kill him, but when he came to Naioth in Ramah, the Spirit of God came upon him and he prophesied (1 Sam 19:18, 24). But this lasted only a while. Saul soon returned to his old envy against that holy man again.

4. It comes upon them even as judgment and wrath. Since they give way to sin so soon, and forget, God allows them to fall into the fear of men, and to force their hearts to go along with bad things, just as Judas and Demas did, until they are swallowed up in that gulf into which the ungodly descend. “As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity” (Ps 125:5).

When God is once angry with a people, he can deal with them. In judgment he can give them up to those lusts from which they would not be separated by mercy. Yes, he can make a way for his anger to overtake those who, by the deceits of their hearts, have made a way to go whoring from under him.

And these are the causes why those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, return with the dog to his own vomit again. And so, though they have named, or still name, the name of Christ, they do not depart from iniquity.

Third, a third reason why those who name the name of Christ do not depart from iniquity may be this: grace is weak and corruption strong. I am speaking now of those who are truly gracious. Those who never had anything but notion never departed from iniquity at all. Those who never had saving grace, though common workings were with them, depart from iniquity only a little. In the same way, those who do have the grace of God in them in truth still do not depart from iniquity as they should. Therefore the exhortation is as much to them as to anybody else: “and let them that name the name of Christ,” with gracious lips, “depart from iniquity.” There is a great difference between these and the two sorts I mentioned before, for these have the true principles of holiness in them, and the others have nothing of the kind. Yet they, even they, also need this exhortation, for they do not, as they should, “depart from iniquity.” Their graces, as I said, are weak, and that is the reason for it.

That these do not depart from iniquity as they should is clear.

1. For their highest acts of holiness are tainted with iniquity and made imperfect by it (Isa 64:6; Ps 143:2; Heb 12:15; Matt 6:23). This is evident because they are still afraid to show themselves before God in their own works, and because, to be accepted with God, they betake themselves to the priestly office of Christ and pray through him, “forgive us our trespasses.”

2. This is clear also because nowhere in the Word are we said, while in this world, to have attained the mark and point of absolute perfection. Instead we are told to grow (2 Pet 3:18), to follow on (Heb 6:12), to press forward (Phil 3:12-14), and to perfect holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor 7:1). Yes, the best of us all, even the apostles and prophets, have not only made it plain by their imperfections that they have not yet departed from iniquity as they should; they have also confessed, and did not deny, that they were still in pursuit of righteousness and had not already attained.

3. This is clear also because the righteousness by which the best of saints are justified in the sight of God is the righteousness of another, not their own. It is the righteousness of another man, because there is no one on earth who does good and does not sin. And what need would there be for us to pray, “forgive us our trespasses,” to approach God in the perfections of another, and to be told “to perfect holiness,” if we had already attained, or were already perfect, or had departed from iniquity as we should?

4. Alas, God’s own complaints about this matter sufficiently testify to the truth of what I say. When God came to his people in Egypt and told them to forsake the idols of Egypt, they did not. “But they rebelled against me,” he says, “and would not hearken unto me; they did not, every man, cast away the abominations of his eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt.” Well, he saved them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness, and there he told them to obey his laws and his commandments. “But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness, they walked not in my statutes, they despised my judgments.” Well, then he brought them from the wilderness to Canaan, and then told them to keep his laws (Ezek 20). But when he had brought them into the land, they polluted themselves there too, and sinned against him as before. Again, when God brought them out of captivity, both they and everything they did were unclean (Hag 2:14).

To be short, what does Paul say in Romans 7? What does James say in James 3:2? And what does John say in 1 John 1:9? Do they not all confess that sin and iniquity were still with them, though they themselves were apostles, and so beyond anyone who breathes in this world for grace and gifts? And so, consequently, do they not confess that they had not yet departed from it as they should have? And the reason, as I have said, is that grace is weak, weak even in the best and strongest of the saints of God. This is why the greatest saints have been accustomed to complain of their weakness, and of their insufficiency to do the will of God completely, when they were much assaulted by corruptions or faced with very hard service for God.

(1) Moses, when God only told him to nourish and support Israel in the wilderness and carry them in his bosom, as a nursing father carries a nursing child, was struck with such fear of failing, through the weakness of his graces and the power of his corruptions, that he cried to God, saying, “I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, … and let me not see my wretchedness” (Num 11:14-15).

(2) Job, when he was to be exercised for a while with some of the judgments of God as a proof of his integrity, cries out, feeling how weak he was to bear them and to go through them as he should, “Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?” (Job 6:12). And again, “Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?” (Job 7:12). And, “Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?” (Job 13:25).

(3) So too Daniel. When he only had to stand and talk with the angel, how weak he found himself! “There remained,” he says, “no strength in me”; and, “O my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can the servant of this my Lord talk with this my Lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me” (Dan 10). Some may say, “But this is natural weakness.” But I ask, how did nature come to be so weak, except through sin? The remains of sin still cling to the best of saints, and they make them, for all their graces, incapable of doing anything as they should.

(4) Paul was a man among men. He had so much grace, so much revelation of grace and communion with Christ, that at times he did not know whether he was in the body or out of it. And yet you find him making bitter complaint of the weakness of his grace and the power of his corruptions. “I am carnal,” he says, and “what I hate, that do I.” “How to perform that which is good I find not”; “when I would do good, evil is present with me.” “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members.” “O wretched man that I am!” (Rom 7). What complaints, what confessions, what bewailing of weakness is here! And what need was there for any of this, if Paul could have departed from iniquity as he wanted to?

I have chosen these four men as my examples because, as far as the holy record shows, they are as free from failings and miscarriages as any four whose lives you will read in the whole Bible. Yet you see that they were too weak to do good and depart from iniquity as they wanted to.

Grace may be said to be weak when a lower or lesser degree of it is compared with a higher and greater degree of the same. Or it may be said to be weak when, whatever degree of it you please, it is engaged by sin, or engages itself against sin, and so on.

There are degrees of grace in the world. Some have smaller and some larger measures of it, and a Christian is capable of action according to the measure of grace he has received. He who has little acts only weakly; he who has much acts more strongly; and the saint who has the most acts best of all. Yet none of these three can act as they should and would, and so none of them can depart from iniquity as it is their duty to do. Witness those four I mentioned just now. They are among the first rank of saints, yet you see what they did and hear what they said.

Sin is a mighty tyrant. It is also installed in our flesh, and moreover it has something in it that suits whatever is sensual in us. The flesh relishes it well, though the spirit of the Christian is against it.

Sin is an active beast. It will not allow the soul to attempt to put itself forth in any good thing without opposition and contradiction: “When I would do good evil is present with me” (Rom 7:21).

Sin is of a polluting and defiling nature. Whatever grace it touches it stains, and by staining it makes that grace weaker than it would be if it were not so defiled. Besides, not one grace, nor one act of grace, in the soul can escape untouched.

Unbelief stands ready to harass faith, both in the grace of faith and in the act of faith.

Hardness of heart will not let love act as affectionately and sympathetically as it should.

Sense and reason, being polluted, will not let hope be fixed as steadfastly on unseen things as it should.

Pride will not let us be as humble as we ought, nor let self be as self-denying. Passion often interrupts our patience, and angry impulses our meekness. By these, and more that might be named, it appears that sin is in us, opposes our graces, and hinders them from acting as they should. And because this sin has part of ourselves in its possession, we do not depart from it as we should, even though our nobler part is utterly against it.

God charges Moses with rash and unadvised words (Num 20:12; Ps 106:33), and so he does Job also (Job 38:2; Job 42:6). Daniel wore the name of an idol god (Dan 4:8), and Paul freely confesses himself infirm (Rom 7:24).

Nor should what I have now said be limited to those who are weak in faith, and so weak in every other grace. For the strongest grace, even when exercised as well as we can, cannot make us depart from iniquity as we should. (1) Because the strongest grace cannot act without opposition. (2) Because we who are the actors are lame, infirm, and made weak by the sin that dwells in us. (3) Because grace, and a state of grace, is not where the perfection designed for us lies; that is in another world. (a) This is a place to exercise faith in. (b) This is a place to labor and travail in. (c) This is a place to fight and wrestle in. (d) This is a place to be tried in.

And therefore this is no place of perfection, and consequently no place where God’s people can depart from iniquity as they should.

Now there is a twofold way of departing from iniquity. One is when the mind is set against it and withdrawn from the love and liking of it. The other is when the practice of it is shunned by the whole man.

1. As for the first of these ways, the saints truly do depart from iniquity, yet they do not depart from it as they should. (1) Their understanding does not see the utmost baseness that is in it. (2) Their judgment is not perfectly informed about its vileness. (3) The conscience has not yet been convinced of all the evil that is in it. Then (a) how should the soul abhor it as it should? (b) How should the desires depart from it with the fervency they should? (c) And how should the will and affections turn away from it as they should?

2. As to shunning the acts of sin, there too we fall wonderfully short.

We do not shun the sins of others as we should. This is evident, (1) because we do not shun the company of base men as we should, (2) nor do we shun or refuse to imitate them in their evil as we should. How easily are good men persuaded to go along with bad men’s ways! See how Jehoshaphat himself said to Ahab, that base man, “I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses” (1 Kgs 22:4). Joseph could learn in Pharaoh’s court to swear by Pharaoh’s life (Gen 42:15-16). Peter also, when dissembling was in fashion among the people, could learn to dissemble likewise (Gal 2:11-14).

We do not shun our own sins, or the sins of our own company, as we should. Christians learn to be proud from one another, to be covetous from one another, to be treacherous and false from one another, to be cowardly in God’s matters from one another, to be remiss and negligent in Christian duties from one another.

Besides, I might go on to show here how Christians will hide iniquity, as David did (2 Sam 12:12); how they will excuse it, as Aaron did (Exod 32:22-24); how they will plead for it, as the men of the city of Joash did for Baal (Judg 6:29-31); and the like. If I did, I might soon make it abundantly plain that Christians do not depart from iniquity as they should. And therefore the exhortation stands good, and is of use to the best of saints on earth: that they, every one of them, “should depart from iniquity.” Yes, and the observation that they do not do it as they should still stands good against us too.

So then, just as this is true of those who have nothing but notion, and true of those who are worked upon but not effectually, so it is true of those who are truly gracious. Observation proves it, fears of damnation prove it, the outcry of the world proves it, and the confession of the best men proves it.

I come now to another observation that I will set before you, and it is this: that everyone who, by way of profession and religion, names the name of Christ “should depart from iniquity.” I say that everyone who, by way of profession and religion, “nameth the name of Christ, should depart from iniquity.” This truth needs more practice than proof. For I think there is no one who has either Scripture or reason on their side who will not freely agree to it.

Nor is there anything ambiguous in the observation that we need to stop and explain now. For what iniquity is, who does not know? That it clings to the best, who does not know? That it is a disgrace to a profession of faith, who does not know? And therefore, that it ought to be departed from, who does not know?

But the particular motives may not be considered as much as they ought to be. And it is Satan’s design to tempt us to be unholy, and to keep iniquity and the professing man together. Therefore I will spend some arguments here on you who profess, and who by way of profession name the name of Christ, that you depart from iniquity: that is, both from the inward thought and from the outward practice of it. And those arguments will be of four sorts: some concerning Christ, some his Father, some ourselves, and some the world.

First: Arguments Concerning Christ

1. The Christ whom you profess, whose name you name, and whose disciples you claim to be, is holy. “Be ye holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet 1:16). This follows naturally from our discourse. For if Christ is holy, and if we profess him, and in professing him declare that we are his disciples, then we ought to depart from iniquity, so that we may show the world that our profession is true.

2. Those who name the name of Christ in this way should depart from iniquity, because this Christ whose name we name is loving. Those who have a loving master, a master who is continually extending his love to his servants, should be eager to do his will. In that way they show that they feel their master’s love and gladly accept it. Well, this is his will: that we depart from iniquity, that we throw sin away, that we flee every appearance of evil (1 Thess 5:22).

3. Those who name the name of Christ in this way should depart from iniquity because of the honor and reputation of the Lord. It is a slight upon Christ that any of his servants, any who name his name, should still stay by iniquity and go on with it. “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a Father, where is mine honor? and if I be a Master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts, unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?” (Mal 1:6).

4. Those who name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity because of his name, so that his name may not be spoken evil of by men. For our holiness puts a luster and a beauty on the name of Christ, and our not departing from iniquity draws a cloud over it. Therefore we ought to depart from iniquity, so that the name of the Lord Jesus may be glorified through us, and not reproached.

5. Those who name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity because of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, which they profess, may not be spoken evil of by our neighbors. The gospel is called holy (2 Pet 2:21); therefore let those who profess it be holy. And they can by no means be holy if they do not depart from iniquity. Men cannot serve the designs of the gospel and their own worldly and fleshly designs too. But those who profess the name of Christ should be careful of his gospel, to keep it in good esteem and reputation in the world. And they can by no means do that unless they depart from iniquity.

6. Those who name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity because the very profession of that name is holy. The profession is a holy profession. “Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord” (Isa 52:11). The vessels, that is, the profession; for by it the name and gospel of Jesus Christ are, as it were, carried about. We must therefore lay aside all iniquity and every excess of wickedness, and act as persons professing godliness (1 Tim 2:10), as those who profess a profession of which Christ is the priest, yes, the High Priest (Heb 3:1). It is a disgrace to any man to be only a bungler at his profession, a mere sloven in his profession. And it is a man’s honor to be excellent in managing his profession. Christians should be excellent in managing their profession. By sweet and clean management of it, they should make what is good in itself good to the church and to the world as well.

7. Those who profess the name of Christ, or who name it religiously, should depart from iniquity to the utmost of their power because of the church of Christ, which is holy. Whoever religiously professes the name of Christ has put himself into the church of Christ: if not into a particular church, then into the universal one. Now that church is holy. “What agreement then hath the temple of God with idols?” (2 Cor 6:16). Yes, or any pillar, or post, or pin, or member of that temple? One black sheep is quickly spotted among five hundred white ones, and one mangy one will soon infect many. So also one among the saints who is not clean is a blemish to the rest; and, as Solomon says, “one sinner destroyeth much good” (Eccl 9:18).

8. Those who profess the name of Christ, or who name that name religiously, should depart from iniquity because of the ordinances of Christ, for they are holy (Exod 30:17-31). In former times, before men went in to handle holy things, they had to wash their hands and their feet in a basin prepared for that purpose. Now since those who name that name religiously also handle Christ’s appointed ordinances, they too must wash and be clean. “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners” (Jas 4:8), if you mean to have dealings with Christ in his ordinances. Wash, or God may cut you off for not departing from iniquity.

9. Those who name the name of Christ religiously should depart from iniquity because of Christ’s watchers. There are many who keep their eye on Christ and watch for an opportunity to speak against him, even by striking at him through the sides of those who profess him. “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign that shall be spoken against” (Luke 2:34). Some take occasion to speak against him because of the lowliness of his person. Some, again, speak against him because of the plainness of his doctrine. Some speak against him because of the lowly condition of his followers. And some speak against him because of the evil deeds of some who profess him. But if the one who gives just cause of offense to the least of the saints would be better off drowned in the sea with a millstone around his neck, what do you think the judgment will be of the one who, by mixing his profession of Christ’s name with a wicked life, tempts or provokes men to speak against Christ?

Second: Arguments Concerning God the Father

I come now to those arguments that concern God the Father.

1. Those who profess the name of Christ should depart from iniquity because of God the Father. For God the Father has made Christ to be to us what he is (1 Cor 1:30): that is, the Apostle and High Priest of our profession. “He that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23). Nor can the Father be honored by us except by our departing from iniquity (John 15:8). All our talk about Christ, and all our profession of him, adds no glory to his Father, who has made him our King, Priest, and Prophet, unless it is joined to a holy life. So if you profess the name of Christ, and want to maintain that you have believed in him, depart from iniquity, for the sake of the Father who sent him.

2. As it is the Father who has made Christ to us what he is, so it is the Father who has called us to share in Christ and all his benefits. Therefore we who profess the name of Christ must depart from iniquity, so that we may glorify the Father for his call. He has called us to the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ (1 Cor 1:9): that is, to share in all the good that is in him as Mediator, and in all the good to be done by him for those who trust in him. Nor would we ever have come out of a cursed and condemned condition to Christ for life and blessedness, except by the call of the Father: “For it is not of works, but of him that calleth” (Rom 9:11). Now since he has called us to this privilege (even us whom he has called) and has left others in their sins to perish by his judgments, it is fitting that we should depart from iniquity. All the more so, since the call by which he called us is heavenly (Heb 3:1) and holy, and since he has called us not only to glory, but to virtue (2 Pet 1:2-3).

3. We who religiously name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity because God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has commanded us to do so: “Wherefore gird up the loins of your minds, be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in your ignorance; but as he that has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation: because it is written, ‘Be ye holy, as I am holy’” (1 Pet 1:13-16).

4. Those who religiously name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity so that they may answer the purpose for which they are called to profess his name. The Father has called them to profess his name for this reason: that they might be “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified” (Isa 61:3). Do you, then, profess the name of Christ? Then bring forth the fruits that suit that holy profession, so that you may be called “trees of righteousness,” and so that God may be glorified for, and by, your professed subjection to the gospel of his Son.

5. Those who name the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in the way I described before should depart from iniquity, so that they may show the world the nature and power of the graces which God the Father has bestowed on those who religiously name the name of Christ. And all the more so, because whoever religiously names that name declares, by his very naming of him, that he has received grace from the Father to enable him to do so. Now he cannot declare this by deeds unless he departs from iniquity; and declaring it by words alone means little to God or man (Titus 1:16).

6. Therefore we who religiously name the name of Christ should also depart from iniquity, because otherwise the Spirit of the Father will be grieved (Eph 4:30). Tolerating iniquity, not departing from it, will grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you “are sealed to the day of redemption.” And that is a sin of a higher nature than people commonly realize. Whoever grieves the Spirit of God will smart for it here, or in hell, or both. And that Spirit which once enlightened, taught, and instructed them can keep silent, can bring darkness, can withdraw itself, and can let the soul sin more and more; and this last is the very judgment of judgments. Whoever grieves the Spirit quenches it; and whoever quenches it vexes it; and whoever vexes it sets it against himself, and tempts it to hasten destruction upon him (1 Thess 5:19). So take heed, professors. I say, take heed, you who religiously name the name of Christ, that you have nothing to do with iniquity. Take heed that you do not tempt the Spirit of the Lord to do such things against you, things whose beginnings are dreadful and whose end, in the working of judgments, is past finding out (Isa 63:10; Acts 5:9). A man who is only beginning to enter into temptation does not know where he is going, or where he will stop, or whether he will ever turn back, or whether he will slip out through the gap that lies right in front of him. Whoever has begun to grieve the Holy Spirit may be allowed to go on until he has committed that sin which is called the sin against the Holy Spirit. And if God once gives you up to that, then you are in the iron cage, from which there is neither deliverance nor redemption. Therefore let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity, on this second consideration.

Third: Arguments That Concern Yourself

In the next place, I come now to those arguments that concern you yourself.

1. Those who religiously name the name of Christ should, indeed must, depart from iniquity, because otherwise our profession of him is nothing but a lie. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie” (1 John 1:6). “And walk in darkness”: that is, and walk in iniquity, and take part in a life that follows the course of this world. “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). The truth he professes to know, and says he has experienced, is not in him. Not every man who names the name of Christ is therefore a man of God, and the word in every man’s mouth is not truth just because he makes profession of that worthy name (1 Kgs 17:24). It is truth in him, and truth to others with respect to him, only when his mouth and his life agree. Men may say they are apostles and be liars. They may say they are Jews, that is, Christians, and lie, and be liars, and lie in saying so (Rev 2:2, 9; Rev 3:9). Now this is the highest kind of lying, and so it must certainly produce the saddest sort of effects. In this way a man’s best things are lies. His very saying, “I know him,” “I have fellowship with him,” “I am a Jew, a Christian,” is a lie. His life gives the lie to his mouth, and every discerning person is sure that he lies.

(1) He lies to God. He speaks lies in the presence of God, and to God’s very face. Now this is a daring thing. God says he knows their lies; and will he not repay them for this? Read Acts 5:4, Rev 21:8, 27 and Rev 22:15, and take heed. I am speaking to you who religiously name the name of Christ and yet do not depart from iniquity.

(2) He lies to men, to every discerning person. Everyone who is able to judge the tree by its fruit knows that such a man is a liar, and that his whole profession, as it concerns himself, is a lie, if he does not depart from iniquity. This is how Paul came to call the “slow bellies,” the unsound professors among the Cretans, liars. That is what they were in his eyes, because their profession of the name of Christ was not backed up by the kind of life that suits a people who profess godliness (Titus 1:12-16). They did not depart from iniquity.

(3) But again, such a man is a liar to his own soul. Whatever a man like that promises himself, his soul will find it a lie. There are many in the world who profess the name of Christ and so promise their souls the enjoyment of that good which is truly wrapped up in him. But they will certainly be mistaken about this, and with the greatest terror they will find it so when they hear that dreadful sentence, “Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity” (Luke 13:27). Christ is resolved that the loose-living professor shall not stand in the judgment, nor any such sinners in the congregation of the righteous. They have lied to God, to men, and to themselves; but Jesus will not lie to them then. He will plainly tell them that he has not known them, and that they shall not remain in his presence. But,

2. Those who religiously name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity, because otherwise, just as they are liars in their profession, so they are self-deceivers. I told you just now that such people lie to themselves, and so, as a result, they deceive themselves. “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (Jas 1:22). It is a sad thing for a man, in and about eternal things, to turn out to be a deceiver of others. But for a man to deceive himself, his own self, out of eternal life, this is the saddest of all; and yet there is in man an inclination to do it. This is why the apostle says, “Be not deceived,” and, “Let no man deceive himself.” And again, in verse 26: “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain” (Jas 1:26).

I have thought long and hard about these words, “but deceiveth his own heart.” They seem to me to be spoken to show how bold and how monstrously desperate some men are who still religiously name the name of Christ: desperate, I say, at deceiving themselves. He deceives his own heart; he talks it into going a different way than it would go of itself. Ordinarily men are said to be deceived by their hearts, but here is a man who is said to deceive his own heart. He flatters it away from the scent and the dread of those convictions it has sometimes been under through the Word. He persuades it that a profession of faith in Christ needs no such strictness of life added to it as the gospel calls for; or that since Christ has died for us and risen again, and since salvation is in him alone, we need not be so concerned, or so strict, about how we live. This man is a self-deceiver; he deceives his own heart. Self-deception, and especially about spiritual and eternal things, and most of all when men do it willingly, is one of the most unnatural, unreasonable and unaccountable actions in the world.

(1) It is one of the most unnatural actions, for here a man seeks his own ruin, and lies in wait in secret for his own life (Prov 1:18). We all cry out against the man who murders his children, his wife, or his own body, and we condemn him as one who has forgotten the rules and the love of nature. But look: the man we are considering is engaged in schemes that will end in his own destruction. He deceives his own soul.

(2) This is also the most unreasonable act. No cause, not even a crumb of a cause, that has the least spark or dram of reason in it, or of anything that even looks like reason, can be shown why a man should deceive himself and rob his soul of eternal life.

(3) Therefore such men are usually passed over with astonishment and silence. “Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this! and be horribly afraid, for my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jer 2:11-13).

But beyond all this, on this subject, the most amazing passage is the one that says the self-deceiver makes a sport of his self-deceiving: “Sporting themselves with their own deceivings” (2 Pet 2:13). Surely these are a people far gone, who have come to such a height of negligence, carelessness, wantonness and desperation of spirit that they take pleasure in, and make a sport of, the very thing that will certainly deceive them forever. But this is the fruit of professing Christ and not departing from iniquity. The wisdom and judgment of God are such that he gives people like this over to sporting themselves in their own deceivings.

Fourth: Arguments That Concern the World

1. Those who religiously name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity because of the scandal that will otherwise surely come through them upon religion and the things of religion. On this point I may well begin to write with a sigh, for there was never more of this kind of thing than now! There is no place where professors of religion are found that is clean and free from offense and scandal. Iniquity is so bound up with religion, and a base life with the naming of the name of Christ, that one may say of the professors of this age what was said of those of old: “All tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean” (Isa 28:8). Where are those, even among people who contend for the rule, who pay it any attention at all when it pinches their lusts, their pride, their greed and their wantonness? Are not most professors nowadays like those who “strain at a gnat and swallow a camel” (Matt 23:24)? Yes, do not professors teach even the wicked to be wicked (Jer 2:33)? Ah, Lord God, this is a lamentation, and it will be for a lamentation. What a sore disease has now gotten into the church of God, that professors in general should walk in a way that brings scandal!

There is no fashion, no vanity, no extravagance, and yet no stinginess, that is not found among professors. They squeeze the poor and nip away from them what is due to them, to keep up their own pride and vanity. I need not give particular instances, for from the rich to the poor, from the pastor to the people, from the master to his servant, and from the mistress to her maid, all are guilty of scandal, and of reproaching the name of the Lord by their lives. For they profess and name that worthy name of Christ, but they have not departed from iniquity as they should.

(1) Because of this the name of God is polluted and reproached, until God grows weary and cries out, “Pollute ye my name no more with your gifts, and with your idols” (Ezek 20:39). Oh, do not pollute my name, says God; rather give up your profession, and go, every one of you, to his wickedness. If you will not depart from iniquity, tell the world that Christ and you have parted, and that you have left him to be embraced by those to whom iniquity is an abomination. That would protect the name of God from scandal and reproach far better than your naming the name of Christ and still not departing from iniquity. Then, though you went on sinning as you do now, the poor world would not cry out, “Ah, so this is your religion!” Then they would have no occasion to run down religion because of you, since you would be telling them that Christ and you have parted. But,

(2) If you will neither stop naming the name of Christ nor depart from iniquity, you also bring scandal on the sincere professors of religion, and that is a grievous thing. There is a people in the world who have made it their business, ever since they knew Christ, to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and who desire to perfect holiness in the fear of God. And you scandalous professors, mixing yourselves in with them, make their gold look dim (Lam 4:1). You are spots and blemishes to them (Jude 12). You are an evil mixing itself with their good, and a scandal to their holy profession (2 Pet 2:13). You are the ones who make the heart of the righteous sad, whom God would not have made sad; you are the ones who cause his little ones to stumble. Oh, the millstone that God will shortly hang around your necks, when the time comes that you must be drowned in the sea and flood of God’s wrath!

(3) If you will neither stop naming the name of Christ nor depart from iniquity, you go on to extend your scandal to the word and doctrine of God as well. Those who religiously name the name of Jesus should conduct themselves in the world in such a way that they adorn the doctrine of God their Savior. But you who profess and yet do not depart from iniquity cause the name and doctrine you profess to be blasphemed and reproached by the people of this world (1 Tim 6:1; Titus 2:5, 10). That is a sad thing. It will bring so heavy a load upon you, when God opens your eyes (and he will open them, either here or in hell-fire), that you will repent of it with great bitterness of soul. May the Lord strike you so as to make you aware of your shame and bring you to conversion, if it is his blessed will. Amen! But,

(4) If you will neither stop naming the name of Christ nor depart from iniquity, you will bring reproach, scorn and contempt upon yourself. For “sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov 14:34).

[1] These are the people God will hold in great contempt and scorn (Isa 1).

[2] These are the people his own people will hold in great contempt. “Therefore,” he says, “have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways,” but have lifted up the face against my law (Mal 2:9).

[3] Such people will also be despised and held in derision by the people of this world. They will be a hissing, a byword, a taunt and a reproach among all peoples (Jer 25:9, 18). “For them that honour me,” says God, “I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed” (1 Sam 2:30). I remember that Philpot used to tell the Papists that they danced in a net with their buttocks uncovered, because of the evil of their ways (Isa 20:4). And the Lord tells professors to take care “that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear” (Rev 3:18), or else they will walk naked and their shame will be exposed. As for those professors who do not depart from iniquity, whatever they think of themselves, others see their nakedness. And if it is a shame to the modest to have their nakedness seen by others, what bold and brazen foreheads must those have who are not ashamed to show their nakedness, yes, the very shame of it, to everyone who lives around them? And yet this is exactly what everyone does who religiously names the name of Christ and still does not depart from iniquity.

2. Those who religiously name the name of Christ and do not depart from iniquity are the cause of many people perishing. “Woe,” says Christ, “unto the world because of offences” (Matt 18:7). And again, “Woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” These are the ones who cause many to stumble at sin and fall into hell. Listen, you who are like this, to what God says to you: “Ye have caused many to stumble at the law” (Mal 2:8), and at religion. People who are looking for an excuse, you hand them one. People who would enter the kingdom, you puzzle and confuse with your iniquity, while you name the name of Christ and do not depart from it. One sinner destroys much good. These are the men who encourage the vile to be viler still. These are the men who quench weak desires in others. And these are the men who tempt the ignorant to harden themselves against their own salvation.

A professor who has not forsaken his iniquity is like someone who comes out of the plague house and walks among the healthy with his plague sores running. This is the man who has the breath of a dragon; he poisons the air all around him. This is the man who kills his children, his relatives, his friends and himself. What shall I say? A man who names the name of Christ and does not depart from iniquity, what can he be compared to? The Pharisees professed religion but did not walk in a way that matched it; and what does Christ compare them to but serpents and vipers? What does he call them but hypocrites, whitewashed walls, painted tombs, fools and blind? And he tells them that they made men more the children of hell than they were before (Matt 23). So a man like this cannot go out of the world alone. For as he gave occasion for scandal while he was in the world, so he is the cause of the damnation of many. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life” (Prov 11:30). But what is the fruit of the wicked, of professors who are wicked? Why, not to perish alone in their iniquity (Josh 22:20). Like the dragon, these draw many of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth with their most stinking tail (Rev 12:4). With their most filthy way of life they cast many a professor into earthly and carnal delights.

The apostle used to weep when he spoke of these professors, so well did he know what an offense they were and would be in the world (Acts 20:30; Phil 3:18-19). These are the chief of Satan’s engines; with these he works wonders. One Balaam, one Jeroboam, one Ahab: oh, how many fish such men bring into Satan’s net! These are the tares he strives to sow among the wheat, for he knows they do it mischief. “Wherefore, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

5. Those who religiously name the name of Christ and do not depart from iniquity, how will they die? And how will they look that man in the face to the profession of whose name they have tied an unrighteous life? Or do they think that he does not know what they have done, or that they can put him off with a few cries and a wringing of hands when he is on the throne to execute judgment on transgressors? Oh, it would have been better for them not to have known, not to have professed; yes, better for them never to have been born! For as Christ said of Judas, so it may be said of these: it would have been good for that man if he had never been born. And as Christ says it would have been good (Mark 14:21), so Peter says it would have been better (2 Pet 2:20-21). Good if they had not been born, and better if they had not known and made profession of the name of Christ.

But perhaps someone may ask me, What iniquity must those depart from who religiously name the name of Christ?

First, I answer, in general, that those who religiously profess the name of Christ must depart from all iniquity. They should lay aside every weight (Heb 12:1); they should flee “all appearance of evil” (1 Thess 5:22). There are many who are willing to part with some sins, some pleasures, some unjust profits, if only they may be saved. But this selling of all, parting with all, forsaking of all, is a very hard chapter.

And yet the Lord Jesus lays it right there, saying likewise, “whosoever he be of you” (that is, any of you who profess my name) “that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). By this text Christ requires more of those who are his than forsaking all iniquity. So, to be sure, every sin is included. Nothing less than universal obedience will prove a man sincere. A divided heart is a faulty one (Hos 10:2). He who does not forsake every sin is partial in the law, and he cannot have respect to all God’s commandments.

There can be no true love to Christ where there are reservations. Whoever will hide any one sin in his bosom, or will keep it, as the saying goes, under his tongue (Job 20:13), is a secret enemy of Jesus Christ. He does not love Christ who does not keep his sayings (John 14:21-24). To waver between the two is worthless, and no man can serve two masters. Christ is a master, and sin is a master; yes, and they are such opposite masters that whoever cleaves to the one at all will be counted an enemy by the other. If sin is tolerated at all, Christ counts himself despised.

What man would count himself loved by his wife if he knew she had a bosom for another? “Thou shalt not be for another man,” he says, “so will I be for thee” (Hos 3:3). Would the king count a man a loyal subject who would hide in his house, nourish in his bed, and feed at his table one who implacably hates his majesty and seeks to murder him? Why, sin is just such an enemy to the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, as kings command that traitors be handed over to justice, so Christ commands that we depart from iniquity. “Take away all iniquity” is a good prayer (Hos 14:2); to “resist unto blood, striving against sin” is a good warfare (Heb 12:4); and he who brings “every thought to the obedience of Christ” wins a brave victory (2 Cor 10:5).

Grace leavens the whole soul, and so, consequently, all its parts. Now where the whole is leavened, the taste must be the same throughout. Grace leaves no power, faculty, or passion of the soul unsanctified. Therefore there is no corner in a sanctified soul where sin may hide its head, to find rest and a dwelling without being checked. Consequently, the man who has a harbor for this or that sin, and can find a hiding place and a dwelling for it in his heart, is no Christian man. Let those, then, who name the name of Christ as Christians make it plain that they do not do it falsely, by departing from iniquity.

Second, and more particularly, those who name the name of Christ, as above, must depart from their constitution-sin, or, if you prefer, the sin their temperament most inclines them to. Not every man is inclined alike to the same sin; some are inclined to one and some to another. Now let the man who religiously professes the name of Christ consider with himself, “What sin or vanity am I most inclined to? Is it pride? Is it covetousness? Is it fleshly lusts?” And let him labor by every means to leave off and depart from that.

This is what David called his own iniquity, when he says, “I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity” (Ps 18:23). These two are rightly put together. For it is not possible that the man who indulges or tolerates his constitution-sin should be an upright man. On the contrary, the man who keeps himself from that sin will be upright as to all the rest. And the reason is this: if a man has grace enough to trample on and put to death his darling sin, his bosom sin, his one special sin, he will more easily and more heartily abhor and flee the rest.

And indeed, if a man will depart from iniquity, he must depart from his darling sin first. For as long as that one is entertained, the others, at least those that best suit with that darling, will always be haunting him. Here is a man who has certain people haunting his house and spending his substance; he would be rid of them, but cannot. But now let him rid himself of the thing for whose sake they haunt his house, and then he will easily be rid of them. So it is with sin. Here is a man who is plagued with many sins, perhaps because he embraces one. Well, let him turn that one out of doors, and that is the way to be rid of the rest. Keep yourself from your darling, your bosom sin, your constitution-sin.

There are several motives to persuade you to fall in with this exhortation.

1. No great change can appear in you, make whatever profession of Christ you will, unless you cast away your bosom sin. A man’s constitution-sin is, as I may call it, his visible sin. It is the sin by which his neighbors know him and describe him, whether it is pride, covetousness, frivolity, or the like. Now if these stay with you, then even though you are much reformed in your notions and in other parts of your life, your neighbors still say, “He is the same man still. His faith has not saved him from his darling sin. He was proud before, and is proud still; he was covetous before, and is covetous still; he was frivolous and wanton before, and is so still. He is the same man, though he has got a new mouth.” But now, if your constitution-sin is parted with, if your darling is cast away, your conversion is evident; it is seen by all. For casting that sin away is death to the rest, and ordinarily makes a change throughout.

2. As long as your constitution-sin remains and you wink at it, you are a hypocrite before God, let your profession be what it will. Also, when conscience awakes and is commanded to tell you plainly what you are, it will tell you so, to your no small vexation and perplexity.

3. Besides, do what you can, as long as you remain like this you will live a scandalous life. No honor is brought to religion by such people.

Again, as those who name the name of Christ should depart from their constitution-sin, so they should also depart from the sins of other men’s tempers. Much harm is done among professing Christians by one another’s sins. Here is a man who has clean escaped from those who live in error, has shaken off the carnal world and its people, and has come among professing Christians. But look, there too he meets with wicked men, men who have not departed from iniquity, and there he is entangled. This is a sad thing, and yet so it is. I fear there are some in the world (I mean professing Christians) who will curse the day that they ever became acquainted with certain professors. There are professors who are defilers, professors who are “wicked men” (Jer 5:26), professors from whom a wicked man may learn to sin (Jer 2:33). Beware of these, lest, having fled from your own sins, you should be caught by the sins of others. “Be not partakers of other men’s sins” is the counsel and caution that Paul gives to Timothy, if he would keep himself pure (1 Tim 5:22).

4. Do you profess the name of Christ, and do you claim to be a man departing from iniquity? Then take care that you do not deceive yourself by exchanging one bad way of sinning for another bad way of sinning. This was a trick that Israel played of old. When God’s prophets pressed them hard with demands for repentance and reformation, they would “gad about to change their ways” (Jer 2:36). But look, they would not change a bad way for a good one, but one bad way for another, hopping like the squirrel from bough to bough, but unwilling to leave the tree. That is why they were said to return, but not to the Most High (Hos 7:16). Beware of this, I say. Many stop being drunkards and fall in with covetousness. Many fall from covetousness into pride and lasciviousness. Beware of this. This is a grand deceit, and a common one too, a deceit of long standing, and almost an epidemic disease among professing Christians.

Many times men change their darling sins as some change their wives and servants: what would serve such a man this year may not serve him the next. A while ago hypocrisy would do, but now debauchery. Profaneness would do when profaneness was in fashion, but now a deceitful profession. Take care, you who profess, that you do not throw away your old darling sin for a new one. Men’s tempers change. Youth is for pride and wantonness; middle age for cunning and craft; old age for the world and covetousness. Beware, therefore, of deceit in this matter.

5. Do you profess the name of Christ, and do you claim to be a man departing from iniquity? Take care that your departing from iniquity is not only for a time. Some depart from iniquity the way people part from one another in a fit of quarreling, that is, for a time; but when the quarrel is over, they are reconciled again through some go-between. Oh, Satan is the go-between between the soul and sin! Though the breach between these two may seem past mending, yes, though the soul has sworn it will never again give countenance to so vile a thing as sin, yet he knows how to make up this difference. He knows how to fetch back to their vomit again those who, one would have thought, had quite escaped their sins and were gone (2 Pet 2:18-22). Take heed, therefore, you who profess. For there is danger of this, and the height of danger lies in it.

And I think that Satan, to do this, makes use of the very sins he finds most suited to the temper and constitution of the sinner to begin this rejoining. These are, as I may call them, the master sins: they suit, they fit exactly with the temper of the soul. Like the thin end of the wedge, these enter with ease, and so make way for those that come after, with which Satan knows he can tear the soul to pieces.

6. Therefore, to help against this, beware of parleying with your sins again once you have departed from them. Sin has a smooth tongue. If you listen to its enchanting language, it is ten thousand to one that you will be entangled. See the saying of the wise man: “with her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks” (Prov 7:21-22). He heard her charm, and by hearing he was caught in the noose and led away to her house, which is the way to hell, “going down to the chambers of death” (Prov 7:27). Beware, therefore, of listening to the charms with which sin enchants the soul. In this, be like the deaf adder: stop your ear, plug it up against sin, and let it be open only to hear the words of God.

Third, let those who name the name of Christ depart from the iniquity of the times. There are sins that may be called the iniquity of the day. It was so in Noah’s day, it was so in Lot’s day, and it was so in Christ’s day (I mean, in the days of his flesh). And it is a noble thing for professing Christians to keep themselves from the iniquities of the times. Here lay Noah’s excellence, here lay Lot’s excellence, and here your excellence will lie, if you keep yourself from the iniquity of this day. Keep, or “save yourselves from this untoward generation,” is timely counsel (Acts 2:40), but it is taken by very few. For the sin of the time, or day, is like a strong current or stream that drives everything before it.

That is why Noah and Lot were found, as it were, alone in practicing this excellent piece of righteousness in their generation. That is why it is said of Noah that he “was a just man, and perfect in his generations” (Gen 6:9). And again, the Lord said to Noah, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me, in this generation” (Gen 7:1). The meaning is that he kept himself clear of the sin of his day, or of the generation among whom he lived.

I say the same of Lot. He kept himself from the sin of Sodom, and that is why Peter speaks so highly of him as a righteous man. “Just Lot,” he says, “that righteous man,” whose righteous soul was distressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (2 Pet 2:7-8). Notice: “a just man,” “a righteous man,” “his righteous soul.” But how did he obtain this character? Why, he abhorred the sin of his time. He did not fall in with the sin of the people, but was afflicted and distressed by it; yes, it was a daily burden to him. “For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day, with their unlawful deeds.” So David says, “I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved, because they kept not thy word” (Ps 119:158).

The sin of the times is to God the worst of sins, and to fall in with the sin of the times is counted the highest of transgressions. Consequently, if a man keeps from these sins, then even though through weakness he should be guilty of others, he is still counted upright. And this, I think, is why David was called a man after God’s own heart: because he served his own generation by the will of God, or, as in Acts 13:36, after he had served the will of God in his own age. By the sin of the times Satan, as it were, sets up his standard in defiance of God, seeking at such a time to have God’s name dishonored in a notable way, and that by the professing people of that age. That is why the Lord shows such wrath against those of his people who are guilty of the common sin of their day, and shows such special favor to those who abstain from it.

Was there no one but Noah in his generation who feared God, do you think? Yes, there were several, no doubt. But he was the man who kept clear of the sin of his day; therefore he and his family must share in God’s deliverance. The others had to die beforehand, and were not allowed the mercy of the ark, nor to see the new world with Noah.

Unbelief was the sin of the day when Israel was going from Egypt to Canaan. Therefore all who were guilty of that transgression must be refused entry to see that good land, yes, even if it were Moses himself. “And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them” (Num 20:12).

The sin of the day is a high transgression. Because Caleb and Joshua kept themselves from it, God kept them from all the blasting plagues that overtook all the rest, and gave them the land which he had promised to their fathers. “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it” (Num 14:24).

Idolatry was the sin of the day just before Israel was carried captive into Babylon. Now as for those priests who went astray then, God says that they shall bear their iniquity. “But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near unto me, to minister unto me; and they shall stand before me, to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God. They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge” (Ezek 44:15-16).

We hear great complaints now among professing Christians of deadness in duties, barrenness of the ministry, and God’s withdrawing from his people. But I can tell you a cause of all this: the sin of the day has gotten into the church of God and has defiled that holy place. This is the ground and cause of all these things, and it is not likely to be otherwise until the cause is removed.

If anyone should ask me what the sins of our day are, I would say they are conspicuous; they are open; they are declared as Sodom’s were (Isa 3:9). Those who have embraced them are not ashamed of them. Yes, they have grown bold enough to plead for them, and to count those who seek to reform them their enemies. All tables are full of vomit and filthiness. And as for pride and covetousness, loathing of the gospel, and contempt of holiness, as these have covered the face of the nation, so they have infected most of those who now name the name of Christ.

And I say again, when you find a professing Christian who is not horribly tainted with some of these things (and I do not exclude the ministers or their families), let him be like a beacon on a hill, or like a banner in our land. But one says, “Would you have us be singular?” And another says, “Would you have us make ourselves ridiculous?” And a third says, “Such and such people, more godly-wise than we are, do so.” But I answer: what if God has made you singular, and called you to a grace that is singular, and bidden you walk in ways that are singular and different from the ways of all others? Yes, if departing from iniquity will make you ridiculous, if being holy in every kind of conduct will make you ridiculous, then be content to be counted so. As for the godly-wise you speak of, let them show themselves to be such by departing from iniquity. I am sure that their being tainted with the sins of the day will not prove them godly-wise.

“Behold, I have taught you,” said Moses, “statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me; that ye should do so in the land whither you go to possess it. Keep therefore, and do them, for this is your wisdom, and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear of all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people” (Deut 4:5-6). Here, then, is wisdom, and this is what shows a people to be understanding and godly-wise: the keeping of the commandments of God.

And why follow the apish fashions of the world? Has the God of wisdom set them going among us? Or is it because the devil and wicked men, the inventors of these vain toys, have outwitted the law of God? “What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them” as his people have, and as he “is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous, as all this law,” said Moses, “which I set before you this day?” (Deut 4:7-8). This, then, is what declares us to be godly-wise: when we keep our soul diligently to the holy words of God, and fit not only our tongues and lips, but also our lives, to them.

Fourth, again, let those who name the name of Christ depart from the iniquity, that is, as I may call it, from family iniquity. There is a house iniquity: an iniquity that does not love to walk abroad, but likes to stay indoors. The holy man David was aware of this, and therefore he said that he would behave himself “wisely, in a perfect way”; yes, he says, “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart” (Ps 101:2).

Now this house iniquity consists in these things: (1) in domestic fights and quarrels; (2) in domestic chambering and wantonness; (3) in domestic disorders of children and servants.

1. As for household fights and quarrels, this is an iniquity to be departed from, whether it is between husband and wife or among others. As I said, this is an iniquity that does not love to walk abroad, yet it is a horrible plague indoors. And many who look like saints abroad still play the part of devils when they are at home, by giving way to this house iniquity, by cherishing this house iniquity. This iniquity meets the man and his wife at the very threshold of the door and will not let them enter the house in peace, no, not with one foot. But how far this is from walking together as heirs of the grace of life is easy to see. Husbands should behave toward their wives in love, as Christ does toward his church; and wives should behave toward their husbands as the church ought to behave toward her Savior (Eph 5:21-28; 1 Pet 3:7). And until each relationship is managed with respect to these things, this house iniquity will be cherished there. Oh! God sees inside the house as well as outside, and he will judge the iniquity of the house too, as well as what is more open.

2. As house iniquity consists in domestic fights and contentions, so it also consists in chambering and wantonness (Rom 13:13). That is why the apostle puts them both together, saying, “not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.” This chambering and wantonness is of wider extent, being indulged by all, so much so that sometimes everyone, from the head to the foot, is horribly guilty. But “it is a shame to speak of those things that are done of some in secret” (Eph 5:12); for “through the lusts of their own hearts, they dishonour their own bodies between themselves” (Rom 1:24), “working that which is unseemly” (Rom 1:27), to their disgrace and contempt, if not with their fellows, then with God, who sees them; for “the darkness hideth not from him” (Ps 139:12). It was for this kind of iniquity, along with others, that God told Eli he would “judge his house for ever” (1 Sam 3:13). The words that follow are also to be trembled at: “The iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever” (1 Sam 3:14). Such an evil thing is house iniquity in the eyes of the God who is above.

3. As domestic iniquity consists in these things, so it also consists in the disorders of children and servants. Children’s unlawful behavior toward their parents is a great house iniquity; yes, and a common one too (2 Tim 3:2-3). Disobedience to parents is one of the sins of the last days. Oh! It is horrible to see how irreverently, how disrespectfully, how saucily and impudently children, yes, professing children, behave toward their parents these days: snapping at them and checking them, curbing them and rebuking them, as if they had never received their being from them, or had never been indebted to them for bringing them up; yes, as if the relationship were lost, or as if they had received a dispensation from God to dishonor and disobey their parents.

I will add that this sin reigns among little and great alike, for not only the small and young but grown men are disobedient to their parents. And indeed, this is a shameful sin, that men shall be disobedient to parents: the sin of the last times, that men shall be “disobedient to parents” and “without natural affection.” Where nowadays shall we see children who have grown to be men and women behave toward their aged and worn-out parents as the Word binds them to? I say, where is the honor they should put upon them? Who speaks to their aged parents with the regard that is due to that relationship, to their age, and to their worn-out condition, as is fitting? Is it not common nowadays for parents to be brought into bondage and servitude by their children? For parents to be under and children above? For parents to be debased and children to lord it over them?

Nor does this sin go alone in the families where it is found. No, those who are disobedient to their parents are lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemous. This is what the prophet means when he says, “The child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable” (Isa 3:5). This is a common sin and a crying sin, and, to the shame of those who are guilty, let it be said: it is a sin that makes men vile to a high degree, and yet it is the sin of professing Christians. But see how the apostle brands them. He says that such have only “a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof,” and he bids the godly shut them out of their fellowship (2 Tim 3:5).

This sin also has grown, I fear, to such a height in some as to make them weary of their parents and of doing their duty to them. Indeed, I wish I could be sure that some are not “murderers of fathers and mothers” (1 Tim 1:9) in their thoughts, while they secretly long for and desire their parents’ death, so that the inheritance may be theirs and they may be delivered from obedience to their parents. This is a sin in the house, in the family, a sin kept under wraps and out of sight; but God sees it, and he has declared his displeasure against it by an explicit threat to cut off those who are guilty of it (Eph 5:1-5). Let those, then, who name the name of Christ depart from this iniquity.

Disorder among servants is also a house iniquity, and one the godly must depart from. “He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house,” said David, and “he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight” (Ps 101:7). One of the rare sights of Solomon’s house, which so took the queen of Sheba, was the fine order of his servants (2 Chr 9:4).

Some of the disorders of servants are to be blamed on the heads of households, and some on the servants themselves. Those to be blamed on the heads of households are such as these: (1) when the servant learns wickedness from his master or her mistress; (2) when servants are backed by the master against the mistress, or by the mistress against the master, or when, in opposition to either, they are made their equals in things; (3) when the excesses of servants are not frowned on and rebuked by their superiors, and the contrary taught them by word and life.

Those to be blamed on the servants themselves are: (1) their lack of reverence for their superiors; (2) their backbiting and slandering of them; (3) their unfaithfulness in serving them; (4) their grumbling at their lawful commands; and the like.

From all these domestic iniquities let everyone depart who religiously names the name of Christ. And before I leave this head, let me, to enforce my exhortation, urge on you a few considerations to work on you still further to depart from these house iniquities.

Consider 1. A man’s house, and his conduct there, say more about the nature and temper of his mind than all his public profession. If I had to judge a man with my life at stake, I would not judge him by his open profession but by his behavior at home. Open profession is like a man’s best cloak, which he wears when he walks abroad, and which many make little use of at home. But what a man is at home, that he is indeed. Abroad there is my behavior toward my friends and customers, my outward honesty in dealing, and my avoiding gross sins. At home there is my house, my closet, my heart; and my house and my closet show most what I am, though not to the world, yet to my family and to the angels. And a good report from those who are nearest, and best placed to judge, is likely to be truer than one gathered only by my observers abroad. The outside of the platter and cup may look fine when within they may be full of excess (Matt 23:25-28). The outward show and profession may be tolerable when things indoors are bad enough. I and my house “will serve the Lord”: that is the character of a godly man (Josh 24:15).

Consider 2. As the best judgment of a man is made from his house, so the man who is faithful in all his house is likely to have God’s approval for good. “I know Abraham,” says God, “that he will command his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord” (Gen 18:19). To make religion and the power of godliness the chief of my aims at home, among those with whom God by a special hand has placed me, is what pleases God and what wins a good report from him. But let me pass over these and come to other things.

Consider 3. The master and the mistress of a family are those whom God has entrusted with the people under their teaching and care, whether children or servants, to be brought up for him. This is plain from the text last mentioned. So here is a charge committed to you by God. See to it, and consider with yourself whether you have done such duty and service for God in this matter that, setting common frailties aside, you can lift up your face to God with a good conscience. That, you may be sure, you can by no means do if iniquity is not banished from your house to the utmost.

Consider 4. And will it not be a sad complaint for your servant to bring against you before the Judge at the last day, that he learned the way to destruction in your house, you who profess religion? Servants, though they themselves are carnal, expect when they come into the house of professing Christians that there they will see religion in its sparkling colors. But look: when he enters your door, he finds sin and wickedness there. There is pride instead of humility, and haughtiness and flippant joking instead of meekness and holiness of mind. He looked for a house full of virtue, and behold, nothing but spiderwebs: fair and plausible abroad, but like the sow in the mire at home. “Bless me!” says such a servant. “Are these the religious people? Are these the servants of God, where iniquity is made so much of and so highly entertained?” And now his heart is filled with prejudice against all religion, or else he turns hypocrite like his master and his mistress, wearing, as they do, a cloak of religion to cover everything abroad, while all is naked and shameful at home.

But perhaps your heart is so hard, and your mind so wedded to pleasing your vile affections, that you will say, “What do I care about my servant? I took him on to do my work, not to train him up in religion.” Well, suppose the soul of your servant is worth so little in your eyes; yet what will you say about your children, who see all your ways and are as capable of drinking up the poison of your footsteps as a pig is of drinking up swill? I say, what will you do for them? Children will learn wickedness from their parents, and from professing parents soonest of all. They will be tempted to think that everything their parents do is right. I say, what will you say to this? Or are you like the ostrich, whom God has deprived of wisdom, and has hardened her heart against her young (Job 39:13-17)? Will it please you when you see that you have brought forth children to the murderer (Hos 9:13)? Or when you hear them cry, “I learned to go on in the paths of sin from the conduct of professing parents”? If it was counted a sad thing in the old days for a man to bring forth children to the sword, as Ephraim did, what will it be for a man to bring up children for hell and damnation?

Fifth, next, let those who name the name of Christ depart from the iniquity of their closet. This may be called part of the iniquity of the house; but because it is not public, but a retired part of it, I put it here by itself. There are many closet sins that professing Christians may be guilty of, and which they need to depart from, such as these.

1. There is the pride of a library, that is, of the study or closet. I suspect that this sin and iniquity is found to this day in many great professing Christians, and in my judgment it shows itself in these ways: (1) when men secretly please themselves with the thought that others know what a stock of books they have, or when they take more pleasure in the number of their books than in the matter they contain; (2) when they buy books more to make up a number than to learn from them to be good and godly men; (3) when, though they acknowledge their books to be good and godly, they still will not conform to them. This is an iniquity now on foot in this land, and it ought to be departed from. It is better to have no books and depart from iniquity than to have a thousand and not be bettered in my soul by them.

2. There is an iniquity that attends the closet which I may call by the name of vacancy: when men have a closet to talk about, not to pray in; a closet to look at, not to bow before God in; a closet to store up gold in, but not to mourn in for the sins of my life; a closet that, if it could speak, would say, “My owner is seldom here on his knees before the God of heaven, seldom here humbling himself for the iniquity of his heart, or to thank God for the mercies of his life.”

3. A man is also guilty of closet iniquity when, though he does not live in utter neglect of the duty, he performs it formally, carnally, and without reverence and godly fear. He is guilty of it also when he asks God for something he cannot bear to have given him, or when he prays in his closet for what he cannot bear in his house or in his life.

4. A man is also guilty of closet iniquity when he wants the sound of the devotion he performs there to be heard by those outside, in the house or the street, or by those who live nearby. For a closet is only for the man and God to do things in secret (Matt 6:6).

Let the professing Christian beware of these things, lest he add sin to his iniquity until both he and it become loathsome. God has appointed the closet for men to wait on him there, and to do it without hypocrisy; to wait there for his mind and his will, and also for grace to carry it out. And how can a man who went out of his closet last time only to do wickedness have the face to come back there again? If I cherish iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear my prayer; and if so, then he will not meet me in my closet; and if so, then I shall soon grow weary of it, being left to myself and the vanity of my own mind.

It is a great thing to be a closet Christian, and to keep it up. He must be a close Christian who will be a closet Christian. When I say a close Christian, I mean one who is so in the hidden part, and who also walks with God. There are many who profess Christ who, in London, go to the coffeehouse more often than to their closet, and who in the morning run sooner to make bargains than to pray to God and begin the day with him. But you who profess the name of Christ, see that you depart from all these things; see that you make it a matter of conscience to read and to practice; see that you follow after righteousness; see that you make it a matter of conscience to begin the day with God. For he who does not begin it with him will hardly end it with him. He who runs from God in the morning will hardly find him at the close of the day; nor will he who begins with the world and its vanities in the first place be very capable of walking with God all the rest of the day. It is the one who finds God in his closet who will carry the savor of him into his house, his shop, and his more public life. When Moses had been with God on the mountain, his face shone; he brought some of that glory into the camp (Exod 34).

Sixth, I add again: let those who name the name of Christ depart from the iniquity that clings to opinions. This is a sad age for that. Let opinions in themselves be ever so good, ever so necessary, ever so innocent, yet there are spirits in the world that will tie iniquity to them. They will make the vanity so inseparable from the opinion that it is almost impossible for some people to take in the opinion and leave out the iniquity that the craft and subtlety of Satan has joined to it. Nor is this something new, something of yesterday. It has been this way in almost every age of the church of God, and not only in small and indifferent things, but in things fundamental and most substantial. I need give no other example to prove it than the doctrine of faith and holiness. If faith is preached as absolutely necessary to justification, then with some people a fantastical faith, along with looseness and carelessness of life, is joined to it. If holiness of life is preached as necessary to salvation, then, they say, faith is undervalued and set below its place, and works are set up for justification before God and made co-partners with Christ’s merits in the forgiveness of sins. In this way iniquity joins itself to the great and most substantial truths of the gospel, and it is hard to receive any good opinion whatever without iniquity joining itself to it.

Wicked spirits do not only tempt men to break the moral law. They also present themselves in heavenly things, working there and laboring in them to twist the judgment and to turn the understanding and conscience awry in those high and most important matters (Eph 6:12). Therefore, I say, we must be all the more watchful and careful, lest we be abused in our best notions and principles by the iniquities that join themselves to them.

It is strange to see in these days how, in spite of all the threatenings of God, men are wedded to their own opinions beyond what the law of grace and love will allow. Here is a Presbyterian, here is an Independent, and here a Baptist, each man so joined to his own opinion that they cannot have that communion with one another which the testament of the Lord Jesus commands and requires of them. What is the cause? Is it the truth? No. God is the author of no confusion in the church of God (1 Cor 14:33). It is, then, because every man makes too much of his own opinion, is too taken with his own way of seeing things, and does not take care to separate his opinion from the iniquity that clings to it. That this confusion is in the church of Christ, “I am of Paul, I of Apollos, I of Cephas, and I of Christ” (1 Cor 1:12), is all too plain. But what unbecoming language this is for children of the same Father, members of the same body, and heirs of the same glory to grow used to! Whether it is pride, or hypocrisy, or ignorance, or self, or the devil, or the Jesuit, or all of these working jointly with the church, it makes and keeps up these names of distinction. This distance and lack of love, this contempt for one another, these low and belittling thoughts of brothers, will be seen better at the judgment, to the shame and confusion of some.

In the meantime, I advise you, the one I am concerned with at this time, to beware of this mixture, this sinful mixture of truth and iniquity together. To help you in this, keep your eye much on your own base self. Labor also to be aware of the imperfections that cling to your best performances. Be clothed with humility, and prefer your brother before yourself. And know that Christianity does not lie in small matters, either before God or before men of understanding. And it would be well if those who contend so stubbornly for their private and unscriptural notions (which are nothing but iniquity clinging to truth), I say, it would be well if such people were sounder in faith and morals, and if by their lives they gave the world better proof that the truth and grace of Christ are in them.

Sometimes so much iniquity is mixed with good opinions that it prevails not only to harm people in this world but to drown them in everlasting misery. It was good that the Jews owned and accepted the ceremonies of the law. But since the iniquity that joined itself to those ceremonies prevailed on them to make the ceremonies co-partners with Christ in matters that belonged to Christ alone, they perished in them. The Galatians too, along with many of the Corinthians, were nearly overthrown by these things. Beware, therefore, of the iniquity that tries to steal into your heart, your judgment, and your understanding along with the truth.

Nor does one iniquity come without another. They are linked together and come in companies, and so, as a rule, those who are superstitious in one thing are corrupted in several others. The more a man stands on his own fine points to justify himself and to condemn his holy brothers, the greater danger he is in of being overcome by various evils. And it is the wisdom of God to let it be so, that flesh might not glory in his presence. “His soul which is lifted up” (Hab 2:4), that is, lifted up with his good deeds, with his order and methods in religion, “his soul is not upright in him.”

I have often said in my heart, What is the reason that some of the brothers are so shy of holding communion with those who are every bit as good as themselves, if not better? Is it because they think themselves unworthy of their holy fellowship? No, truly. It is because they exalt themselves. They are leavened with some iniquity that has mixed itself with some good opinions they hold, and that is why they say to others, “Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou” (Isa 65:5). But what is God’s sentence on such people? Why, “these are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.” Therefore, as I said before, so I say again now: beware of the iniquity that clings to good opinions, which you will by no means be able to shun unless you are clothed with humility.

Seventh, but further, let those who name the name of Christ depart from hypocrisies. This exhortation, like the first, is general. For hypocrisies are of such a nature that they spread themselves all over, like leprosy over the body: not over the faculties of the soul only, but over all the duties of a man. So here is a great iniquity to part from, an overspreading iniquity. This sin will get into your whole profession, into every bit of it, and will make the whole of it a loathsome stink in the nostrils of God. Hypocrisy will be in the pulpit, in religious conversation, in the prayer closet, in the communion of saints, in faith, in love, in repentance, in zeal, in humility, in almsgiving, in prison, and in all duties (Ezek 8:12; Mal 2:13; Matt 6:2; Matt 7:20-21; Matt 23:15; Luke 12:1-2; Luke 20:19-20; 1 Cor 13:3; 2 Cor 6:6; Col 2:23; 2 Tim 1:5). So here, to keep your soul upright and sincere, more than ordinary diligence must be used.

Hypocrisy is one of the most abominable of iniquities. It is a sin that brazenly defies God. It is a sin that says God is ignorant, or that he delights in iniquity. It is a sin that flatters, that dissembles, that tries to put God off, as it were, with fair words about things that are neither purposed nor intended. It is also a sin that sets a man studying and scheming how to mislead and deceive his neighbor about the bent and intention of his heart, and also about the cause and aim of his actions. It is a sin that persuades a man to make a show of civility, morality, or Christian religion as a cloak, a pretense, a disguise to deceive with.

It will make a man preach for position and praise rather than to glorify God and save souls. It will set a man talking so that he may be commended. It will make a man, when he is at prayer in his closet, try to be heard outside the door. It will make a man ask for what he does not desire, and show zeal in duties when his heart is as cold, as senseless, and as lacking in savor as a clod of earth. It will make a man pray to be seen and heard by men rather than to be heard by God. It will make a man try to weep when he does not repent, and pretend great friendship when he does not love. It will make a man claim experience and sanctification when he has none, and faith and sincerity when he does not know what they are. Opposed to this sin are simplicity, innocence, and godly sincerity. Without these three graces you will be a hypocrite, whatever your notions, your knowledge, your profession, and the commendations of others may be.

Helps against this sin are many, and I will now give you some of them.

(1) Believe that God’s eye is always on your heart, to observe all its ways, all its turnings and windings (Prov 16:2; Prov 21:2; Luke 16:15).

(2) Believe that he observes all your ways and marks your actions. “The ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings” (Prov 5:21).

(3) Believe that a day of judgment is coming, and that then all things will be revealed and uncovered as they are. “For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; neither hid that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light, and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops” (Luke 12:2-3).

(4) Believe that a hypocrite, with all his cunning and all his coverings for his hypocrisy, can go unseen no further than the grave, and no longer than that can he flatter himself with thoughts of life. For “the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment. Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; yet he shall perish for ever, like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found; yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night” (Job 20:5-8).

(5) Believe that God will not spare a hypocrite in the judgment, no, nor punish him with ordinary damnation either. As hypocrites have sinned here in a way of their own, so there they will receive greater damnation (Luke 20:47).

Of all sins, the sin of hypocrisy shows a man to be most in love with some lust, because he dissembles with both God and man to keep it.

To conclude this sevenfold answer to the question raised above, let me advise those who are tender of the name of Christ to pay attention to these things.

Advice 1. Be well acquainted with the Word and with the general rules of holiness, that is, with the moral law. The lack of this is a cause of much unholiness of life. These licentious and evil times we live in are full of iniquity, and however much we love God, we cannot do our duty as we are commanded if we do not know it. The law is cast behind the backs of many, when it should be carried in the hand and the heart, so that we might do it, to the end that the gospel we profess might be glorified in the world. So let the law be with you, to love it and to do it in the spirit of the gospel, so that you are not unfruitful in your life. Let the law, I say, be with you, not as it comes from Moses, but as it comes from Christ. For though you are set free from the law as a covenant of life, you are still under the law to Christ, and you are to receive it as out of his hand, to be a rule for your conduct in the world (1 Cor 9:21).

So whatever you are about to do, do it or leave it undone as you find it approved or forbidden by the law. And when anything comes into your mind to be done, and you are at a standstill and at a loss about whether it is lawful or unlawful, then go to the law of your God, which is in your hand, and ask whether this thing is good or is to be avoided. If professors practiced this, there would not be as much iniquity found in their beds, their houses, their shops, and their dealings as there is.

Advice 2. Just as you must be careful to find out whether a thing is lawful or unlawful before you put your hand to it, so you must also consider further whether what is lawful is expedient. A thing may be lawful in itself and yet be unlawful for you, that is, if some inconvenience or inexpediency attends the doing of it. “All things are lawful unto me,” says the apostle, “but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not” (1 Cor 6:12; 1 Cor 10:23). This, then, you must consider, and this also you must practice.

But this is a hard lesson, and impossible to carry out unless you are given to self-denial. For this text, and so the practice of what it contains, has respect chiefly to another, that is, to your neighbor and his advantage and edification. It assumes, yes, it commands you, if you will depart from iniquity, to forgo also some things that are lawful, and therefore profitable to you, for the sake of your neighbor and out of love for him. But how little of this is found among men? Where is the man who will forgo some lawful things for fear of hurting the weak by them? Alas, how many who profess religion today will not forgo obvious wickedness, no, not even though the salvation of their own souls is endangered by it! How then should these forgo things that are lawful, out of godly tenderness for the weakness of their neighbor?

This much I have thought good to say in answer to the question, What iniquity should we who religiously name the name of Christ depart from? And now we will make some use of what has been spoken.

The first application, then, is one of examination. Are you a professor? Do you religiously name the name of Christ? If so, I ask you: do you, according to the exhortation here, “Depart from iniquity”? I say, examine yourself about this matter, and be faithful in this work, for the deceit in it will fall on your own head. You may deceive yourself, but you will never fool God. “Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal 6:7). So let no one deceive himself, either by professing while he lives a life of vice, or in examining whether his profession of this name and his life and conduct agree with one another. What departing from iniquity is, I have already shown in the former part of this book, so I will not handle that point any further here. I will only press on you the necessity of this exhortation, and the danger of not carrying it out faithfully.

First, the necessity of it is urged from the deceitfulness of man’s heart, which will flatter him with promises of peace and life, both now and hereafter, though he lives in iniquity while he professes the name of Christ. For there are those who say in their hearts, or whose hearts say to them, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst” (Deut 29:19). And what will become of those who do so, you may see by what follows in the text. The heart, therefore, is not to be trusted, for it will promise a man peace in the way of death and damnation. I do not doubt that many are under this fearful judgment to this day. What else is the meaning of their quietness of mind, their peace, and their boasting of heaven and glory, though every step they take in life and conduct is plainly a step toward hell and damnation? “The heart is deceitful” (Jer 17:9), and, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool” (Prov 28:26). These sayings were not written without a cause.

So let all who would examine themselves about this matter keep a jealous eye over their own hearts, and take care not to be fooled by them. Let them mix hearty prayer to God with this business, that he will help them to be faithful to themselves in so great a matter. Yes, let them compare their lives with the holy commandment, and judge by that rather than by the fleshly fondness that people are naturally apt to have for, and of, their own actions. For by the verdict of the Word you must stand or fall, both now, at death, and in the day of judgment. Therefore beware of your heart, your carnal heart, when you go into your life to search for iniquity. Take the Word with you, and examine yourself by the Word (John 12:48).

Second, it is urged from the cunning of Satan. If you want to examine yourself faithfully in this matter, then beware of the flatteries of the devil. If he can help it, you will never find out the iniquity of your heels. He will labor to blind your mind, to harden your heart, and to put such virtuous names on your foulest vices that you will never truly examine and try your ways, as you are commanded (Lam 3:40; 2 Cor 13:5), unless you stop your ears to him in a godly way. So beware of him, for he will be ready at your side when you go about this work.

Now, to help you in this matter, set God before your eyes: the holy God, the all-seeing God, the sin-avenging God, “for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:29). And believe that he has fixed his eyes on your heart, and that “he pondereth all thy goings” (Prov 5:21; Prov 21:2), and that the judgment on your faithfulness or unfaithfulness in this work must come out of the mouth of God. This will be your help in this business, that is, if you use it faithfully. And this will also be your hindrance, if you neglect it and allow yourself to be abused by the devil.

Third, it is urged from the dangerousness of the last days. If you would examine yourself, then do not make the lives of others any rule for yourself in this matter. It was prophesied long ago by Christ and by Paul, concerning the last times, “that iniquity shall abound,” and be very high among professors (Matt 24:12; 2 Tim 3:1-8). Therefore it will be a rare thing to find an exemplary life among professors. So cease from man, and learn from the Word. Try yourself by the Word, and receive conviction from the Word. And to keep yourself from taking encouragement from others, set the judgment before your eyes, and the account that God will demand of you then. And know that it will be a poor excuse for you to say, “Lord, so-and-so does this, did this, would do this; and they professed…” Whether you will hear me or not, I do not know. Yet this I know: “If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it” (Prov 9:12).

Then, to press this application further on you, let me show you in a few particulars the danger of not doing it, that is, of not departing from iniquity, since you make a profession.

Danger 1. The iniquity that clings to those who profess, if they do not cast it away but favor it, will all prove to be nettles and briars to them. And I assure you, yes, you know it yourself, that nettles and thorns sting and scratch very nastily. “I went,” says Solomon, “by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding. And lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down” (Prov 24:30-31).

Suppose a man, after working all day, were turned out into a bed of nettles at night. Or suppose a man, after he had been about some business, were rewarded with a whipping of briars and thorns. That would be little help, relief, or comfort to him for his work. Why, this is the reward God gives a wicked man, a wicked professor. Nettles and thorns are to cover over the face of his vineyard, his field, his profession, and that at the very end of all. For this covering over the face of his vineyard with nettles and thorns is to show what fruit the slovenly, slothful, careless professor will reap from his profession when reaping time comes.

Nor can the one whose vineyard, whose profession, is covered over with these nettles and thorns of iniquity escape being afflicted by them in his conscience. For just as they cover the face of his vineyard now through his laziness, so they will cover the face of his conscience in the day of judgment. Profession and conscience cannot be kept apart for long. If a man, then, makes a profession without any conscience for God’s honor in his conduct, his profession and his conscience will meet in the day of his visitation. Nor will the one whose condition this is be able to keep the guilt and sting of a lazy and wicked life from covering the face of his conscience by keeping the name of Jesus Christ in his profession. For instead of soothing such a conscience, naming and professing the name of Christ will put venom, sting, and sharpness into those nettles and thorns that will then be spread over the face of such consciences. This will be worse than that cold, wet cloth that Hazael took and spread over the face of Ben-hadad, so that he died (2 Kgs 8:15). This will sting worse, tear worse, torment worse, and kill worse. Therefore look to it!

Danger 2. Nor can people dodge this danger by neglecting to inquire into whether they have truly separated from iniquity, for God himself will search them. He says that he searches the mind and the heart, “to give unto every one of you according to your works” (Rev 2:23).

There are many who wear the name of Christ as a cloak, and so turn their iniquity to their own advantage. But at death and judgment Christ will tear this cloak off such shoulders. Then they will walk naked; yes, the shame of their nakedness will then appear. Now, since no one can escape God’s search, and so cannot escape his judgment either, it will be your wisdom to search your own ways, and to prevent judgment by judging yourself.

Danger 3. Christ will deny that those who do not depart from iniquity are his, though they name his name among the rest of his people. “Depart from me,” he says, “all you that departed not from iniquity” (Luke 13:25-27). Yes, those who name his name religiously and do not depart from iniquity are denied by him all along the way.

(1) He does not allow them to call him Lord now. “And why call ye me Lord, Lord,” he says, “and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). He cannot bear to be thought of as the Lord of those who presume to profess his name and do not depart from iniquity (Ezek 20:39). The reason is that such people only profane his name, and drive others away from falling in love with him and his ways (Rom 2:24). That is why he says again, “Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah” (Jer 44:26).

(2) He does not regard their prayers: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear” my prayer (Ps 66:18). And if that is so, then whatever you receive at the hand of God, you receive it not in mercy but in judgment, and to work out your everlasting misery still further.

(3) He will not regard their soul, but at the last day will cast it from him as a thing he abhors. This is plainly seen in that thirteenth chapter of Luke, noted just above.

So from these few hints, whoever you are, you may well perceive what a horrible thing it is to make a profession of the name of Christ and not depart from iniquity. Therefore let me urge you again to examine yourself whether you have departed, and do depart, from iniquity, since you profess that name.

And here I would make a distinction, for there are two parts in iniquity, namely, the guilt and the filth. As for the guilt that is contracted by iniquity, I am persuaded that no one who knows it needs to be told to desire to depart from that. Indeed, I believe that the worst devil in hell would depart from his guilt if he could, and if he might. But this is the point: to depart from the sweetness, the pleasure, and the profit of iniquity. There are those who call evil good, and iniquity good, and that among professors too. This is what must be departed from, and these are the ones who are urged to forsake it on pain of the penalties threatened before. Therefore, as I said, let such people look to it that they examine themselves whether they are departing from iniquity.

And come, now that you are going about this work, let me help you in it. Ask your heart: (1) What evil do you see in sin? (2) How sick are you of sin? (3) What means are you using to put your sins to death? (4) How much have you been grieved to see others break God’s law, and to find temptations in yourself to do it?

1. For the first: there is a soul-polluting evil in iniquity. There is a God-provoking evil in iniquity. There is a soul-damning evil in iniquity. And until you come to know these things by experience, you will have neither the desire nor the will to depart from iniquity.

2. For the second: I do not mean sick with guilt, for in that way the damned in hell are sick. I mean sick of the filth and the polluting nature of sin. In this way Moses was sick of sin, Jabez was sick of sin, and Paul was sick of sin (Num 11:14-15; 1 Chr 4:9-10; Rom 7:14; 2 Cor 5:1-3; Phil 3:10-14).

3. For the third: you know that those who feel a sickness will look around for the means to be cured. There is a means for this disease too. Do you know what that means is, and do you really desire it? Yes, could you be willing even now to make use of the means that would help you to that means which can cure you of this disease? No means can cure someone who is sick of sin except glory, and the way to come to that is Christ, and to go out of this world by faith in him. No grace can cure this disease. In fact, grace rather increases it, for the more grace anyone has, the sicker of sin he is, and the greater an offense iniquity is to him. So then, nothing can cure this disease but glory, nothing but immortal glory. And do you desire this medicine? And does God testify that your desire is true and not pretended (2 Cor 5:4)? I know that many things make some people even wish to die. But the question is not whether you wish to die, for death can cure many diseases. The question is whether this is what moves you to desire to depart: that you might be rid, completely rid, and stripped of a body of death, because nothing on this side of the grave can rid you of it and strip you of it. And is the hope that this day is approaching a reviving cordial to you? And does the hope of it strike arrows into the heart of your lusts, and draw your mind and affections still farther from iniquity?

4. To the fourth: how much have you been grieved to see others break God’s law, and to find temptations in yourself to do it? “I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved,” said David, “because men kept not thy word” (Ps 119:158). Paul had the same grief, because of that body of sin and death which was in him. Professor, I beg you, be serious about this, because when God comes to judge, it will be found that those who profess Christ and yet stay with their iniquity are only wooden, earthen professors, and none of the silver or golden ones. And so, consequently, they will be vessels not for honor but for dishonor, not for glory but for shame.

My next shall be an application of terror. Has God commanded by the mouth of his holy apostles and prophets that those who name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity? Then what will become of those who rebel against his word? Where the word of a king is, there is power. And if the wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion, what is the wrath of God, and what will it be, when it falls with violence on the head of the wicked?

Sirs, I beg you to consider this: the man who professes the name of Christ and yet lives a wicked life is the greatest enemy God has in the world. Consequently, he is one whom God will set his face against in a most notable way. That is why God threatens such people so hotly, saying, “And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinner shall be together,” and that “they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed” (Isa 1:28). But what sinners are these? Why, the sinners in Zion (Isa 33:14), the hypocrites in the church. So again, the Lord will “purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against him” (Ezek 20:38). “All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us” (Amos 9:10). For though such people think that by professing the name of Christ they will keep themselves from going down to hell, yet they will go down there, along with those who have lived openly wicked and profane lives: Egypt and Judah, the circumcised with those who are not (Jer 9:26). For it is not a profession of faith that can save them. “Whom dost thou pass in beauty?” says God. In what way are you better off for your profession than the wicked? “Go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised” (Ezek 32:19).

That is the warning in general. But more particularly, the wrath of God shows itself against such professors in this: the gospel and the means of salvation will not be effective for their salvation, but will rather work quite contrary effects. It will bring forth, as I said, quite contrary effects (2 Cor 2:15-16). For example:

1. The preaching of the word will be to such people the savor of death unto death, and that is a fearful thing.

2. Yes, Christ Jesus himself, so far from being a savor to them, will be a snare, a trap, and a hunter’s noose to catch them by the heel (Isa 8:14-15), so that they may go and fall backward, “and be broken, and snared, and taken” (Isa 28:13).

3. The Lord will also choose out such delusions for them, delusions that best suit the workings of their flesh, as will effectually bring them down to the slaughter with the bullocks and the bulls (Isa 66:3-4). Yes, he will lead such people forth with the workers of iniquity (Ps 125:5).

4. Above all, such people lie open to the sin against the Holy Spirit, that unpardonable sin which must never be forgiven. For alas, it is not the poor ignorant world but the enlightened professor who commits the sin that will never be forgiven.

I say, it is one who has been enlightened, one who has tasted the good word of God and something of the powers of the world to come (Heb 6:4-5; 1 John 5:16). It is one who was counted a brother, who was with us in our profession. It is such a one who is in danger of committing that most black and bloody sin. Yet not each and every one of those who are such is in danger of this. It is those among them who take pleasure in unrighteousness, and who, rather than lose that pleasure, will commit it presumptuously.

Presumptuously means against light, against convictions, against warnings, against mercies. Or put it this way: a presumptuous sin is one committed in the face of the command, by desperately venturing to run the risk, or by presuming on the mercy of God through Christ to be saved anyway. This sin leads on to the one that is unpardonable, and it will be found in professors who hanker after iniquity. I say, it is designed by the devil, and permitted by the just judgment of God, to catch and overthrow loose and carnal professors of the gospel. That is why David cries to God to hold him back from this sort of sin. “Cleanse thou me from secret faults,” he says. And then he adds, “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression” (Ps 19:12-13).

If there were any dread of God or of his word in the hearts of the people of this generation, the consideration of this one text would be enough to shake them to pieces. I am speaking of those who name the name of Christ but do not depart from iniquity. But the word of God must be fulfilled. In the last days iniquity must abound (Matt 24:12), and so these days will be perilous and dangerous to professors. “In the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy” (2 Tim 3:1-2).

I harp on this text all the more at this time because it is a prediction of what will happen in the latter days: what a sea and deluge of iniquity will in those days overspread and drown those who then have a form of godliness and of religion. So this day is more dangerous than the days that have gone before us. Now iniquity, even immorality, will be in fashion among professors. It will be pleaded for, loved, and more esteemed than holiness itself. Now godliness and self-denial will be little valued. The very men who have a form of godliness hate its life and power; yes, they will despise those who are good. Now, therefore, ministers must not think that what they say about the doctrine of self-denial will be much regarded among professors, if it is regarded at all. I mean regarded so as to be loved and put into practice by those who name the name of Christ. For the strong hold that iniquity will have on their affections will mean that the preaching of the word to them will have little effect toward this end.

But what will these kinds of people do when God, who is just, God, who is holy, and God, who is strong to carry out his word, calls them to account for these things?

Now some may say, “But what shall we do to depart from iniquity?” I answer:

1. Labor to see how odious and unprofitable iniquity is. You may do this by a true knowledge of the excellent nature of the holiness of God. For until you see a beauty in holiness, you cannot see the odiousness of sin and iniquity. You may see danger in sin before then, but you cannot see its odiousness.

2. Think much about the power, justice, and faithfulness of God to take vengeance on the workers of iniquity.

3. Think much about the greatness and worth of your soul.

4. Often ask yourself, “What real profit did I ever get by committing any sin?”

5. Often bring your last day to your bedside.

6. Often think of the cries and roarings of the damned in hell.

7. Often consider how long the torments of hell last.

8. Often think what those who are now in hell would give to live their lives over again.

9. Often consider the frailty of your life, and that there is no repentance to be found in the grave, where you are going.

10. Consider that hell is a doleful place, and that the devils are but uncomfortable companions.

11. Again, consider along with these things how you have abused the patience of God; yes, how you have despised all his attributes, you who are a professor and do not depart from iniquity.

12. Moreover, I would ask: with what face can you look the Lord Jesus in the face, when you have profaned his name by your iniquity?

13. Also, how will you look at those who are truly godly, whose hearts you have grieved while they have watched the dirt and dung that has clung to you and to your profession?

14. But above all, consider how you will bear the guilt of the damnation of others along with your own. For as I have often said, a professor who perishes seldom perishes alone; he throws others down to hell with himself. The reason is that others, both weak professors and carnal people, are spectators and observers of his ways. Yes, and they will presume to follow him, especially in evil courses, concluding that he is right.

We read that the tail of the dragon, or the dragon by his tail, drew a great number of the stars of heaven and threw them down to the earth (Rev 12:4). The tail! “The prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail” (Isa 9:14-15). The prophet who speaks lies, whether by opinion or by practice, is the tail, the dragon’s tail, the serpentine tail of the devil (Isa 9:14-15). And so, in his order, every professor who by his iniquity draws both himself and others to hell is the tail. The tail, says the Holy Spirit, draws them down; it draws down even the stars of heaven. But where does he draw them? The answer is: from heaven, the throne of God, to earth, the seat of the dragon, for he is the god of this world. The professor, then, who is dishonorable in his profession is the tail. “The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.”

Nor can Satan work such exploits by anyone as he can by unrighteous professors. He uses them in his hand as a giant uses his club; with it, as it were, he drives everything before him. It is said of Behemoth that “he moveth his tail like a cedar” (Job 40:17). Behemoth is a type of the devil. But see how he handles his tail, just as if a man were swinging a cedar about! This is said to show how hurtful the tail is, as it is also said in another place (Rev 9:10, 19). Better no professor than a wicked professor. Better to be openly profane than to be a hypocritical namer of the name of Christ. The openly profane person will do less harm to his own soul, to the poor ignorant world, to the name of Christ, and to the church of God.

Let professors, therefore, take heed to themselves that they join to their naming of the name of Christ a holy and godly life. For otherwise they must go away with the workers of iniquity to the pit, with more guilt, a bigger load, and far more torment than others.

My next word is for those who desire to be true, sincere professors of the name of Christ.

1. Bless God that he has put not only his name into your lips but grace into your hearts, so that the profession you make of him may be seasoned with that salt. “Every sacrifice shall be seasoned with salt” (Mark 9:49). Now naming the name of Christ is a sacrifice (Heb 13:15), and an acceptable sacrifice when the salt of the covenant of your God is not lacking but mixed in with it (Lev 2:13). Therefore I say, since God has put his name into your mouth to profess it, and grace into your heart to season that profession with such bearing, such behavior, such a life and such conduct as fits it, you have great cause to thank God.

A man into whose mouth God has put the name of Christ to profess it is like a man who must act his part on a stage in the marketplace. If he does it well, he brings praise both to his master and to himself; but if he does it badly, both are brought into contempt. No greater praise can be brought to God by man than by joining a fruitful life and conduct to the profession of the name of Christ. “Herein,” says Christ, “is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:8). God expects fruitful lives from all who profess the name of Christ. “And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Tim 2:19).

Bless God, therefore, if he has kept you from blotting and blemishing your profession, if your conduct has not been stained with the blots and evils of the times. What you feel, fight with and groan under because of the working of your inward corruptions, I do not meddle with here. Nor is your conduct any the worse for that, if you keep them from breaking out. You too shall be counted holy to God through Christ if you are upright in your conduct, though you are plagued every day with the working of your own corruption.

As God’s grace is the salt of saints, so saints are the salt of God. The one is God’s salt in the heart, and the other is God’s salt in the world. “Ye are the salt of the earth” (Matt 5:13), that is, the salt of God in the earth. For the earth would be wholly corrupt, and would altogether stink, if professors were not in it. But now, if the professor, who is the salt, does indeed lose his savor, and has nothing in his conduct to season that part of the earth where God has placed him, with what shall it be seasoned? The place where he lives, as well as his profession, will both stink odiously in the nostrils of the Lord, and so both will come to ruin and desolation.

Indeed, as I have shown, the professor will come off worst, for God refuses to give him salt any more. “If the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?” (Luke 14:34). With what shall the salt be salted? With nothing. Therefore from then on it is good for nothing; no, not even for the dunghill, but only to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. “He that hath ears to hear let him hear” (Luke 14:35).

How much, therefore, is the tender-hearted person, and the one who labors to beautify his profession with a gospel life, bound to bless God for the salt of his grace, by which his heart is seasoned, and from his heart, his conduct!

2. As such Christians should bless God, so let them watch, let them still watch, let them still watch and pray: watch against Satan, and pray for still more grace, so that they may beautify their profession of the worthy name of Christ more and more with a life to match it. Blessed is the one who watches and keeps his garment, that is, his conduct, clean. And there is nothing, except the overthrow of our faith, that Satan seeks more to destroy. He knows that holiness in those who name the name of Christ rightly, as to doctrine, is a sledgehammer and ruin to his kingdom, an allurement to the ignorant, and a cutting off of those occasions of stumbling that the dirty life of a professor lays in the way of the blind (Lev 19:14). He knows that holy lives, when they shine in those who profess the name of Christ, cut off the lies he seeks to make the world believe, and the slanders he seeks to fasten on the professors of the gospel. Therefore, as you have begun to glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s, so I beg you, do it more and more.

3. To this end, shun those professors who are loose in life and conduct. “From such withdraw thyself,” says Paul (1 Tim 6:5), and follow “righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim 2:22). If a man, even a good man, does not take good heed to himself, he will soon bring his soul into a snare. Loose professors are defilers and corrupters (Isa 1:4); a man will get nothing but a blot by keeping company with them. Besides, as a man will get a blot by having much to do with such people, so let him beware that his heart learns none of their ways. Let your company be the excellent of the earth, those who are excellent in knowledge and conduct. “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Prov 13:20).

Be content to be counted singular, for so you will be if you follow after righteousness and the rest in good earnest, since holiness is a rare thing in the world now. I told you before that the Word foretells that in the last days perilous times will come, and that men will walk after their own lusts; yes, professors too, to their destruction. Nor will it be easy to keep yourself from this. But just as when the plague comes into a place it infects and strikes down the healthy, so the iniquity of the last times will infect and pollute the godly. I mean the general run of them. If only our times were properly compared with those that went before, we would see what we are now ignorant of. If we would only look back to the Puritans, and especially to those who, a little before them, suffered for the word of God in the days of Queen Mary, we would see a different life from what is now among men, a different manner of conduct from what is now among professors.

But, I say, predictions and prophecies must be fulfilled. And since the Word says plainly that “in the last days there shall come scoffers, walking after their own lusts” (2 Pet 3:3), and since Christians will be endangered by it, let us see to it that we acquit ourselves like men, seeing we know these things beforehand, “lest we, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from our own steadfastness” (2 Pet 3:17).

Singularity in godliness, if it really is in godliness, is nothing anyone should be ashamed of. For that is no more than to be more godly, to walk more humbly with God, than others do. And for my part, I would rather be a pattern and example of piety. I would rather my life should instruct the saints and condemn the world, as Noah’s and Lot’s did, than risk myself among the multitude of the drossy.

I know that many professors will fall short of eternal life, and my judgment tells me that those who do will be the slovenly sort of professors. And for my part, I would rather run with the foremost and win the prize (1 Cor 9:24) than come behind and lose it, and my labor, and everything. “If a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully” (2 Tim 2:4-5). And when men have said all they can, the truly redeemed are those “that are zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14).

Not that works save us. But faith, which lays hold of Christ’s righteousness for justification, sanctifies the heart and makes men desire to live in this world to the glory of that Christ who died in this world to save us from death.

For my part, I doubt the faith of many, and fear that at the day of God it will prove no better than the faith of devils, because it stands in bare speculation and is without life and soul toward what is good. Where is the man who walks with his cross on his shoulder? Where is the man who is zealous for moral holiness? Indeed, for those things that carry nothing of the cross of the purse, or the cross of the belly, or the cross of the back, or the cross of the vanity of household affairs, for those things, I find, we have many sticklers, and very busy ones too. But otherwise, the cross, self-denial, charity, and purity in life and conduct are almost quite turned out of doors among professors. But you, man of God, be singular as to these things, and as to their conduct. “Be not ye therefore partakers with them” (Eph 5:7) in any of their ways, but keep your soul diligently; for if damage comes to you, you alone must bear it.

But whoever will depart from iniquity must be well fortified with faith, and patience, and the love of God. For iniquity has its beauty spots and its advantages attending it; that is why it is compared to a woman, for it allures greatly (Zech 5:7). Therefore, I say, whoever will depart from it needs faith, since faith is what will help him to see beyond it, and will show him more in things that are invisible (2 Cor 4:18) than can be found in sin, even if sin were ten thousand times more entangling than it is. He also needs patience to hold out in this work of departing from iniquity. For indeed, to depart from it is to draw my mind away from something that will follow me with continual solicitations. Samson withstood his Delilah for a while, but she got the mastery of him at last. Why? Because he lacked patience. He grew angry and was vexed, and could withstand her pleading no longer (Judg 16:15-17). There are many also who are quite content to shut sin out of doors for a while; but because sin has much fair speech, it overcomes them at last (Prov 7:21). For sin and iniquity will not easily take no for an answer. It is like the woman you read of who has a whore’s forehead and refuses to be ashamed (Jer 3:3).

Therefore departing from iniquity is a long work, as long as life lasts. A work, did I say? It is a war, a continual combat. Therefore whoever will venture to set about this work must be armed with faith and patience; he will find himself put to daily exercise by the continual attempts of iniquity to put itself forth. This is called enduring to the end (Matt 24:13), continuing in the word of Christ, and keeping the word of his patience (Rev 3:10). But what man in the world can do this whose heart is not seasoned with the love of God and the love of Christ? Therefore whoever will exercise himself in this work must often consider the love of God toward him in Christ. For the more sense or apprehension a man has of that, the easier and more pleasant this work will be to him, yes, even if doing it should cost him his heart’s blood. “Thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes,” says David, “and I have walked in thy truth” (Ps 26:3). Nothing is like the sense, sight or belief of that to make the man of God depart from iniquity.

Question. But what shall I do? I cannot depart from it as I should.

Answer. Keep your eye on all your shortcomings, on all your failures, for that is profitable for you. (1) The sight of them will make you base in your own eyes. (2) It will give you occasion to see the need and excellence of repentance. (3) It will set you praying to God for help and pardon. (4) It will make you weary of this world. (5) It will make grace to persevere more desirable in your eyes.

Also, it will help you in the following things. (1) It will make you see the need of Christ’s righteousness. (2) It will make you see the need of Christ’s intercession. (3) It will make you see your need of Christ’s advocacy for you. (4) It will make you see the riches of God’s patience. (5) And it will make heaven and eternal life all the sweeter to you when you come there.

But now to the question itself. Get more grace. For the more grace you have, the further your heart is set off from iniquity, the more it is also set against it, and the better able it is to depart from iniquity when it comes to you, tempts you, and begs you to entertain it. Now the way to have more grace is to have more knowledge of Christ and to pray more fervently in his name; also to subject your soul and your lusts, with all your power, to the authority of the grace you have, and to judge and condemn yourself most heartily before God for every secret inclination toward sin that you find in your flesh.

The use you make of what you have is, so to speak, how God judges how you would use more if you had it; and according to that you will have, or not have, a further measure. He who is faithful in what is least is faithful, and will be so, in much as well; and he who is unjust in the least is, and will be, unjust in much as well. I know Christ speaks here about the unrighteous mammon, but the same may also be applied to the matter in hand (Luke 16:10-12). And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will commit to you what is your own?

There is a remarkable place to this purpose in the Revelation. “Behold,” he says, “I have set before thee an open door,” that you may have what you will, as was also said to the woman of Canaan who made good use of what she had (Matt 15:28), “and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name” (Rev 3:8).

A good use of what we have of the grace of God at present pleases God and engages him to give us more; but a bad use of what we have at present will not do so. “To him that hath” (that is, who has a heart to make good use of what he has), “to him shall be given; but to him that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath” (Matt 25:24-30). Well, weigh the place and you will find it so.

I know that no man can depart from iniquity as is required, that is, to the utmost degree of the requirement, for it is a copy too fair for mortal flesh to imitate exactly while we are in this world. But with good paper, good ink and a good pen, a skillful and willing man may go far.

And it is well for you if your complaint is sincere, namely, that you are troubled because you cannot forsake iniquity as you should; for God accepts your design and desire, and he counts it as your kindness (Prov 19:22). But if your complaint in this matter is true, you will not rest or content yourself in your complaints. Rather, as one who is truly hungry or greatly burdened uses every lawful means to satisfy his hunger and ease himself of his burden, so you will use all your skill and power to mortify your iniquities and keep them under by the word of God. Nor can such a man be anything other than a growing man. “Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:2). Such a man will not be stumbling in religion, nor a scandal to it in his calling; but, according to God’s ordinary way with his people, he will be a fruitful and flourishing bough.

And I wish to God this were the sickness of all who profess in this nation! For then we would soon have a new leaf turned over in most corners of this nation. Then graciousness of heart, and life, and conduct would be more prized, more sought after, and better improved and practiced than it is. Yes, then the throats of ungodly men would be better stopped, and their mouths faster shut, as to their reproaching of religion, than they are now. A Christian man must be the object of the world’s envy; but it is better, if the will of God be so, that we be reproached for doing well than for doing evil (1 Pet 2; 1 Pet 3). If we are reproached for doing evil, it is our shame; but if for doing well, it is our glory. If we are reproached for our sins, God cannot vindicate us; but if we are reproached for a virtuous life, God himself is concerned. He will take up our quarrel, and in his good time will show our foes our righteousness and put them to shame and silence. In short, a godly life joined to faith in Christ is so necessary that a man who professes the name of Christ without it is worse than a beast.

Question. But you will say to me, Why do men who do not love to depart from iniquity profess the name of Christ?

Answer. There are many reasons for it.

1. The preaching of the gospel, and so the publishing of the name of Christ, is musical and very appealing to the children of men. A Savior! A Redeemer! A loving, sin-pardoning Jesus! What better words can come from man? What better melody can be heard? “Son of man,” said God to the prophet, “lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song” (or, as a song of loves), “of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument” (Ezek 33:32). The gospel is a most melodious note and a sweet tune to anyone who is not prejudiced by slander, reproach and enmity against those who profess it. Now, since its melodious notes are so sweet, no wonder if it entangles some, even of those who still will not depart from iniquity, so that they take up and profess so lovely a profession.

2. But there is a generation of men who are, and have been, frightened by the law and terrified with fears of perishing for their sins, and yet do not have grace to leave them. Now when the sound of the gospel reaches such men’s ears, because it makes public the willingness of Christ to die for sin, and of God to forgive them for his sake, they immediately receive and profess those notions as the only ones that can rid them of their frights and terrors. They falsely rest content with a faith in these things that stands in naked knowledge; yes, they like best the faith that will sit alongside their pride, covetousness and lechery, and never desire to hear of practical holiness, because it will disturb them. So they usually throw dirt at those who preach it, calling them legalistic preachers.

3. Here also a design of Satan is set on foot. For these carnal gospelers are his tares, the children of the wicked one, whom he has sown among the wheat on purpose, so that, if possible, the wheat might be rooted up by watching them and learning from them to be vile and filthy (Matt 13:36-43).

4. Another cause of this is that the hypocrites who begin to profess find people as bad as themselves already in a profession of this worthy name; and they think, “These do so and so, and therefore so will I.”

5. This also comes to pass through the righteous judgment of God, who, because of the anger he has conceived against some men for their sins, will lift them up to heaven before he casts them down to hell, so that their fall may be the greater and their punishment the more intolerable (Matt 11:20-24).

I have now done, once I have read my text to you again: “And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Tim 2:19).