The Riches of Mercy and Other Sermons

Sermon 1

The Lord himself shall give a sign; behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isa 7:14).

The Jews at this time were in a distressed condition, because two kings were besieging them, Rezin and Pekah, the one king of Syria and the other king of Israel. So the prophet labors to comfort them. He tells them that these two kings were only like two firebrands, which would waste away and consume themselves, and then go out. To confirm this, because he saw that the hearts of both king and people were stunned, he bids them ask a sign of things in heaven or earth. No, says King Ahaz, “I will not tempt God.” Making religion his pretext against religion, he would not, for he was a most willful and wicked man.

For he had made an altar modeled on the altar he had seen at Damascus, neglecting God’s altar at Jerusalem as too plain and homely. Man, unsubdued by the Spirit of God, admires the devices of men and the workmanship of his own brain.

This king was so fearful that his heart, and the hearts of the rest, were as the leaves in the forest, shaking and trembling and quaking at the presence of their enemies. He was seized with fear and horror, seeing God as his enemy and himself as God’s enemy, and seeing that God intended him no good. Yet for all this he would go on in his own superstitious course, having some secret confidence in his league and alliance with other kings who were as superstitious as he was. This by the way.

We may learn from this wretched king that those who are least fearful before danger are most basely fearful in danger. He who was so confident and willful out of danger had a heart, once in danger, that was as the leaves of the forest. For a wicked man in danger has no hope from God, and therefore he is incapable of any dealings with him. Led by a superstitious spirit, he will trust the devil and his instruments rather than God. So this king had more confidence in the king of Assyria, who was his enemy and later showed himself to be so, than in God. It is the nature of flesh and blood, when it is not sanctified by God, to trust in this means and that means, this carnal help and that carnal help, a reed of Egypt, yes, the devil and lies, rather than God himself.

In holy indignation at the refusal of a sign to confirm his faith that these kings would not harm the church, the prophet breaks out: Know this, O house of David: “Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?” God offers you a sign out of his love, and you dislike and despise his blessed bounty. Therefore “the Lord himself shall give you a sign.” What is that sign? “A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

From this inference we may see the conflict between the infinite goodness of God and the inflexible stubbornness of man: God’s goodness striving with man’s badness. When they would have no sign, God will still give them a sign. In the contest his goodness overcomes and outwrestles man’s sinful strivings; his mercy prevails against man’s malice.

To come to the text itself: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” This was not so much a sign for the present as a promise of a miraculous benefit, which was to be given almost eight hundred years after the prophet spoke these words: the incarnation of Christ, a miracle of miracles, a benefit of benefits, and the cause of all benefits. He draws comfort against the present distress from a benefit to come. To show how “a virgin shall conceive” can be a ground of comfort in this time of distress, we must know that Christ was the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world (Rev 13:8). All the godly among the Jews knew this well enough, for the Messiah was all their comfort. They knew that he was yesterday and today, and shall be the same forever. The church has had comfort from Christ in every age. He did good before he was revealed in the world.

And so the prophet applies the comfort to the house of David: “A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,” one who would be of the family of David. Therefore the house of David will not die out and be dissolved. The reasoning is strong. You of the house of David are afraid that your kingdom and nation will be destroyed. But know that the Messiah must come of a virgin, and of the house of David. Considering that this must certainly come to pass, why are you afraid, you house of David?

Again, it has the force of a reason in this way. The promise of our Messiah is the grand promise of all, and the cause of all promises. For all the promises made to the church are either promises of Christ himself or promises in him and for his sake, because he receives all the promises from God, conveys them, and makes them good to us. God makes them and performs them in Christ and for Christ.

Now the reasoning runs like this. If God will give a Messiah who will be the son of a virgin and “Immanuel,” he will certainly give you deliverance. He who will do the greater will do the less. What is the deliverance you desire, compared with the promised deliverance from hell and damnation, and with the benefit of the Messiah, which you profess to hope for and believe in?

The apostle himself reasons this way: “God, that spared not his own Son, but gave him to death for us all, how shall not he with him give us all things?” (Rom 8:32). If God will give Christ to be Immanuel and to become incarnate, he will not hold back over any other lesser promises or mercies whatsoever.

Objection. But you will say that this promise was still to come. How then could it confirm their faith for the present, that they would not be destroyed?

Answer. I answer that with regard to his taking our nature, he was “to come.” Yet Christ was always with his church before then. They understood him in the “manna”; he was the “angel of the covenant.” Those among the Jews who were spiritually wise understood that he was the rock that went before them.

Again, it is usual in Scripture to give signs from things to come, as in Isaiah 37:30: “The next year thou shalt eat that which groweth of itself.” This is because where there is faith, it makes things “to come” just as if they were present.

So we should use the grand promises of Christ to comfort ourselves against all petty troubles and wants whatsoever. Let us reason with the holy apostle: God spared not his only begotten Son, but gave him to death. He has given Christ; will he not give us what we need? Has he given the greater, and will he haggle with you over the less? This is a blessed kind of reasoning. And so we may reason from the other grand things promised. God will raise my body out of the dust and the grave; can he not raise my body out of sickness, and my circumstances out of trouble? Can he not raise the church out of misery? So says St. Paul: God that raised Christ, restored me again, that had received the sentence of death (2 Cor 1:9). When we receive the sentence of death in our own persons, let us look to him who raised Christ from the dead, and to the grand promises to come. Those who lived before Christ comforted themselves in every kind of distress with the grand promise of Christ “to come.” But now the Messiah has come. And what may strengthen our faith much more, he has suffered and given his body to death for us. Why then do we doubt God’s goodwill in any petty matters whatsoever?

To come to the words more particularly: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son.”

You have several articles of our faith in these few words: Christ’s conception by the Holy Spirit, his being born of the Virgin Mary, and so on. You have here the human nature of Christ: “A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son.” And you have the divine nature of Christ: his name shall be called Immanuel, which also signifies his office. He is “God with us” by nature, and God with us by office, to set God and us at one. So you have several points of theology folded into these words, which I will open only as far as suits the occasion.

“Behold.” This is the usual beacon set up, the usual herald calling for our attention in all matters concerning Christ. And here it has a threefold force.

1. “Behold,” as being a thing presented to the eye of faith. The prophet passes over the whole interval between the promise and its fulfillment, for faith knows no difference of times.

2. It is also meant to raise attention. “Behold”: it is a matter of great concern.

3. And not only attention, but wonder as well. “Behold,” a strange and wonderful thing. For what stranger thing is there than that a virgin should conceive, that a virgin should be a mother, and that God should become man?

We need strong grace to grasp these strange things. And therefore God has provided a suitable grace, above reason and above nature, and that is faith. Reason mocks at this. The devil knows it and envies it. The angels know it and wonder at it. The soul itself, without a grace suited to how wonderful the thing is, can never grasp it. Well may it be said, then, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son.”

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear.” And why a virgin? When God is to be born, it is fitting for a virgin to be the mother. Christ was not to come by the ordinary way of procreation. He was to come from Adam, but not by Adam, for he was to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit. For he was indeed to be a sacrifice, and he who was to offer himself for the sins of others had to be without spot or sin himself. Therefore the foundation and ground of his nature had to be pure and clean, and that is the foundation of all the purity of his life and conduct. And therefore a virgin.

This was typified in Aaron’s rod, which budded though it had no root. No sap could come from a dry stick, yet by an almighty power the rod budded. And so too Moses’s bush: it burned and was not consumed. And the God who caused those things caused a virgin to be a mother.

He enters the womb of a virgin without any defilement at all, since the Holy Spirit, from the Father and the Son, purged, purified and sanctified the substance from which the blessed body of our Savior was made. The virgin supplied the matter, but the wise framer was the Holy Spirit. She was passive; the Holy Spirit was the agent.

Now, when did the virgin conceive? When the angel came to her and told her “that she was greatly beloved,” and that she would conceive, she assented: “Be it so as the Lord hath spoken” (Luke 1:38). When she assented to the word, Christ was immediately conceived. Her faith and her womb conceived together. When her heart conceived the truth of the promise and yielded its assent to it, her womb conceived at the same time.

Observation. From this, learn something for ourselves. It would have been to little purpose for a virgin to conceive Christ, unless Christ had also been conceived in her heart. And there is no benefit from this conception to others, except to those who conceive Christ in their hearts as well.

To this end our hearts must in some measure be made virgin hearts: pure hearts, hearts fit to receive Christ.

We must assent to the promises of pardon and of everlasting life: “Let it be as the Lord says.” A Christian is a Christian, and Christ lives in his heart, from the moment he assents to the promise. So if you ask, “When does Christ first live in a Christian’s heart?” I answer: when the heart yields a firm assent to the gracious promises made in Christ for the pardon of sins, acceptance into the favor of God, and title and claim to everlasting life. For faith is the birth of the heart.

Christ was conceived in the womb of a humble and believing virgin. So the heart that will conceive Christ rightly must be a humble and believing heart: humble, to deny itself in all things, and believing, to go out of itself to the promises of God in Christ. When God by his Spirit has brought our hearts to be humble and believing, to go out of themselves and believe in him, and to rest on him and his promises, then Christ is conceived in our hearts.

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son.” Here is the birth of Christ as well as the conception. Christ must not only be conceived in the womb but also brought forth, because God must be manifested in the flesh. As St. Paul says, “Great is the mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim 3:16). If he had only been conceived and not brought forth, he would not have been manifested. He was to do all the things that befitted a Mediator.

And therefore he went along with us through all the stages of our lives. He was conceived as we are, remained in the womb so many months, was born as we are born, and was brought into the light as we are. Away, then, with idle monkish inventions and foolish notions that claim the contrary!

He was like us in all things, sin excepted. He was conceived and brought forth, hung at the breast as we did, and was an infant as we were; he was hungry and thirsty, and suffered as we do.

And as he was like us in all things, so in everything that was in him there was something extraordinary. As he was a man like us, so he was an extraordinary man. He was conceived, but of a virgin, which is extraordinary. He was born as we are, but then his star appeared, and the wise men came to adore and worship him. He was poor as we are, but beams of his Godhead shone out. When he was poor, he could command a fish to furnish him (Matt 17:27). He died as we die, but he made the earth to quake, the veil of the temple to rend (Matt 27:51) when he triumphed on the cross. All of this declared that he was more than an ordinary person.

And so we must all conceive Christ, and bear Christ in our words and actions. It must be evident that Christ lives in us; what we are inwardly toward God must appear outwardly to others. Our whole outward life must be nothing but a revealing of Christ living in us. “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,” says St. Paul (Gal 2:20), and this should appear in our words, conduct and actions. Our lives should be nothing but an acting out of Christ living in our souls.

This is not merely a truth by analogy; it flows naturally. Into the hearts of all who are to have the benefit of his birth and conception, Christ sends the same Spirit who sanctified the substance from which he was made, and so he forms in them a disposition suited to himself. He sets his own stamp on the heart. As the union of his human nature to the divine was the cause of all the other graces of his human nature, so the Spirit of God, uniting us to Christ, is the cause of all grace in us. If we do not have the Spirit of Christ, we are none of his.

“And shall call his name Immanuel.” Many things might be observed about the usual reading of the words. Some read, “She shall call his name Immanuel,” because he had no father; others, “His name shall be called Immanuel.” But these readings are doubtful, so I leave them aside.

But “Jesus” was his name. How then can it be said that he shall be called “Immanuel”?

The meaning is that he shall be Immanuel, and shall be accounted and believed to be so. He shall indeed be God with us, and shall show himself to be so. For in the Hebrew idiom, to say what a thing shall be called implies that it truly is so. The same phrase occurs in Isaiah 9:6: “To us a child is born, to us a son is given; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace.” That is, he shall be believed to be so, shall show himself to be so, and shall be so indeed. You have a similar phrase elsewhere, which also answers the cavil of the Jews, who object that he was not called “Immanuel”: “Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name, whereby he shall be called, The Lord our righteousness” (Jer 23:6). For he truly is Jehovah our righteousness, and we have no righteousness to stand before God with but his. There are several other places of Scripture of the same nature, but these two are full and clear, and so I name them for all the rest.

Besides the conception and birth of Christ, you also have here the divine nature of Christ and the offices of Christ, for Immanuel is a name of both nature and office.

It is a name of his nature, God and man, and of his office, which is to reconcile God and man. We could not be “with God” unless God first became “man with us.” We were once with God in Adam, before he fell; but now that a breach has been made, we cannot be recovered again until God is with us. He must take our nature so that he may reconcile our persons.

Now, Christ is “Immanuel,” first, in regard of nature: “God with us,” or God in our nature. The pure nature of God and the base nature of man, which had been strangers ever since the fall, are knit together in Christ. What can be further estranged, except the devil’s nature, than man’s unholiness and God’s pure nature? Yet the nature of man and the nature of God, so severed before, have met together in one Christ. So in this one word “Immanuel” there is heaven and earth, God and man, infinite and finite. Well may we set “behold” in front of it.

A true Savior of the world must be “God with man,” whether we consider the greatness of the good we are to have by a Savior or the greatness of the evil we are to be freed from by a Savior. Both of these require that he be Immanuel, God with us.

1. (1) The greatness of the good we are to have requires it. For he is to be God and man together, to satisfy the wrath of God and to undergo the punishment due to sin as our surety. He must give us title to heaven and bring us there; and who can do this but God?

(2) Besides this, he must know our hearts, our wants, our griefs, our infirmities. He must be everywhere to relieve us; and who can do this but God?

(3) So too in regard of the evil we are to be freed from. He is to defend us in the midst of our enemies; and who is above the devil, and sin, and the wrath of God, and all the oppositions that stand between us and heaven, but God? So in regard of the good, in regard of the evil, and in regard of preservation to an eternal good estate and freedom from eternal evil, he must be “Immanuel, God with us.”

These grand principles are enough to satisfy us on this point.

2. And as he must be God, so there was also a necessity of his being man. Man had sinned, and man must suffer for sin, and “without blood there was no remission” (Heb 9:22). And then, that he might be a merciful and compassionate Savior (Heb 2:17), he must take on himself the nature he means to save. There must be suitableness and sympathy: suitableness, that the head and the members, the sanctified and the sanctifier, may both be of one nature; and sympathy, that he might be touched with human infirmities.

3. This God and man must be one person. For if there were two persons, God one distinct person and man another, then there would be two Christs, and so the actions of the one could not be attributed to the other.

On that supposition, when the man died and shed his blood, it could not have been said that God died. But because there was only one person, God is truly said to die, though he died in man’s nature; for he took man’s nature into unity with his person, and whatever either nature did, the whole person is said to do. And therefore Christ is a Savior according to both natures, as God and as man. For he was to suffer, and he was to overcome and to satisfy in suffering. He was not only to hear our prayers but to answer them. Both natures entered into the whole work of mediation.

God died, and God suffered, and he supported the manhood so that it might uphold the burden of the wrath of God and not sink under it.

And so in all his actions there was a concurrence of divinity and humanity: the lowlier works were done by the manhood, the greater works by the Godhead, so making one “Emmanuel, God with us.”

For God must bring us to heaven by a way suitable to his holiness, and therefore by way of satisfaction; and that can only be done by one who is God, equal with himself.

And that is the reason why the apostle joins together “without Christ, without God” (Eph 2:12). That is, those who do not know Christ as God-man, to reconcile God and man, have nothing to do with God. For what does the pure nature of God have to do with the impure nature of man without Emmanuel, without him who is God-man, to make satisfaction?

But now that Christ has taken our nature, it has become pure in him, and beloved of God in him. And God has become lovely in him, because he is our nature. Yes, in Christ God has become a Father: “I go to your Father, and my Father” (John 20:17). His nature is sweet to us in Christ; our nature is sweet to him in Christ. God does not love our nature except first in him, in whom it is pure. And then he loves our nature in us, because by the Spirit of Christ he will make our natures like Christ’s. And therefore we may think of God as Emmanuel, God well pleased with us, and we well pleased with him.

Out of Christ we are angry with God, and he is angry with us. We could wish there were no God, and would rather submit to the devil, to be led by his spirit into all profaneness and licentiousness. We have a rising up against God and his image; and whatever comes from God, the proud, unmortified heart of man swells against it. But once the heart believes that Christ, Emmanuel, God with us, has satisfied God’s justice, then the believing heart takes God to be a Father reconciled in Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5:18). And we are taught to be his sons. And our nature is more and more purified and cleansed, and made like the pure nature of Christ; and so, little by little, the terms between God and us grow sweeter, until we get to heaven, where our nature shall be absolutely perfect and purged by the Holy Spirit.

So he is Emmanuel, God with us, to make God and us friends, and this in two ways: first, by satisfaction, taking away the wrath of God; and then, secondly, by the Spirit, for God sends his Spirit into our hearts to fit us for friendship and communion with him, when we have something of God in us.

Many things may be drawn from this, partly for instruction and comfort. I will name a few.

1. First of all, we are to wonder, and we cannot wonder enough, even if we were angels and our natures were larger than they are, at the marvelous mercies and love of God, that he would stoop so low that God in the second person should take our nature and become one with us. It is marvelous love that he would be one with us by such a means as his own Son, to make peace between himself and us. It is a marvelous condescending and stooping in the Son to take our nature. When there are better creatures above us, that he would pass by all those above us and take our nature, which is dust, into the unity of his person; that earth, flesh and blood, should be taken into one person with the Godhead: this is wonderful and marvelous.

He did not take the nature of angels, so that by the incarnation of Christ we are above angels. Because he did not take the angels’ nature, they are not the spouse of Christ; but every believing Christian is the spouse of Christ. The believer is married to Christ. He is the head, we are the members; he is the husband, we are the spouse. And therefore we may stand in admiration of the love of God in taking our natures upon him.

It takes hearts warmed by the Spirit of God to think of and admire these things as their nature deserves. When Christ was born, the angels could not contain themselves, but broke out, “Glory to God on high, on earth peace, good will towards men” (Luke 2:13-14), because there was then peace: peace between God and us, and in consequence peace with all the creatures, which only take God’s part and avenge his quarrel.

These things are matters of admiration, and we shall spend eternity admiring them in another world, though here our narrow hearts can hardly conceive them. But what we cannot believe by understanding, since these things are above nature, let us labor to understand by believing. Ask God that we may believe them, and then we shall understand them to our comfort.

“Emmanuel, God with us.” If God is with us in our nature, then he is with us in his love; “and if God be with us, who shall be against us?” (Rom 8:31). For this Emmanuel has taken our nature forever; he has taken it into heaven with him. God and we shall forever be on good terms, because God in our nature is forever in heaven, appearing for us as an intercessor. There is no fear of a breach now, for our Brother is in heaven, our Husband is in heaven, to preserve an everlasting union and friendship between God and us. Now we may triumph in a holy manner over all opposition whatsoever. For if God is with us in our nature, and therefore with us in his favor, who shall be against us? And therefore, with the apostle, let us triumph (Rom 8:37 and following).

Let us make use of this Emmanuel in all troubles whatsoever, whether those of the church or our own personal troubles. In the troubles of the church: the church has enemies, hell and the world and Satan’s agents; but we have one, Emmanuel, God with us, and therefore we need not fear. You know whose banner it is, whose motto: “God with us” is better than “Holy Mary.” “Holy Mary” will go down when “God with us” shall stand.

I urge you, therefore, let us comfort ourselves concerning the church, as the prophet in the next chapter comforts the church in distress: “He shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over; he shall reach even to the neck: and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Emmanuel” (Isa 8:8). That land is the church. It may seem a kind of complaint: The enemy stretches out their wings over your land, O Emmanuel. And this may teach us, in the person of the church, to go to Emmanuel: Remember, the enemies of your church spread their wings over your land and people; O Emmanuel, you see the malice of the enemy, the malice of antichrist and his supporters. He is the true Michael, who stands up for his church. And then in the tenth verse: “Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us” (Isa 8:10). And if the church could say this before Christ came in the flesh, much more may we triumph over all, now that he has come in the flesh. Let all the enemies consult together, this king and that power; there is a counsel in heaven that will disturb and dash all their counsels. Emmanuel in heaven laughs them to scorn. And as Luther said, “Shall we weep and cry when God laughs?”

He sees a company of idolatrous wretches who conspire together to root out all Protestants from the earth, if it lay in their power. Those who are inspired with Jesuitical spirits, the incendiaries of the world, have devoured all Israel and Christendom in their hopes; but the church, which is Emmanuel’s land and freehold, sees it and laughs them to scorn. God can dash all their treacherous counsels.

And so in all personal trouble whatsoever, “Emmanuel, God with us,” is fitted to be a merciful Savior. He was poor, that he might be with the poor. He did not take on himself a nature that could not suffer; he took our poverty, our miserable nature. He is poor with the poor, afflicted with the afflicted, persecuted with the persecuted. He is deserted with those who are deserted: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46). He suffers with those who suffer. He has gone through all the passages of our life. At its beginning he was conceived and born; and he has gone along with us, and is able to pity and help us in our poverty, in prison, in bonds, in disgrace, in our conflict with God, in our terror of conscience, in all our temptations and assaults by Satan. He himself was tempted by Satan for this purpose, that Emmanuel might be merciful in all these things.

Let us not lose the comforts of this sweet name, in which you have so many comforts laid up. In the hour of death, when we are to die, think of Emmanuel. When Jacob was to go into Egypt, God said, “Fear not, Jacob; go, I will go with thee, and bring thee back again” (Gen 46:3-4); and he did bring him back to be buried in Canaan. So do not fear to die; do not fear to go to the grave. Emmanuel has been there. He will go into the grave; he will bring us out of the dust again. For “Emmanuel” is “God with us,” who is God over death, over sin, over the wrath of God, God over all, blessed forevermore, and who has triumphed over all. So that “what shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus?” (Rom 8:35).

He is not only God with us in our nature, but God for us in heaven at all times. He is God in us by his Spirit. He is God among us in our meetings: “Where two or three be gathered together in my name, I will be in the midst of them” (Matt 18:20). He is God for us, to defend us, for he is for us on earth, for us in heaven, and wherever we are, especially in good causes. And therefore let us enlarge our comforts as much as we can.

And shall we not then labor to be with him as much as we can? All spirits that have any comfort from this Emmanuel are touched by his Spirit to desire to be nearer and nearer to him.

How shall I know that he is my Emmanuel, not only “God with us,” but God with me? If, by the same Spirit of his that sanctified his human nature, I have desires to be nearer and nearer to him, and more and more like him; if I am on his side; if I am near him in my affections, desires and understanding; if I do not side against the church, nor join in opposition against the gospel; if I find inwardly a desire to be more and more with him, and like him; if outwardly, in the place where I live, I side with him and take part with his cause: then it is a sign I have an interest in him. And therefore let us labor to be more and more with Christ and with God in love and affections, in faith, in our whole inward man, because he is in us.

We must know that this Emmanuel trusts us with his cause, to speak a good word for him now and then, to speak a word for his church; and he takes it ill if we neglect him: “Curse ye Meroz, because he came not out to help the Lord” (Judg 5:23). God trusts us, to see whether we will be on his side, and calls to us, as Jehu did, “Who is on my side? who?” (2 Kgs 9:32). Now if we have not a word for the church, not so much as a prayer for the church, how can we say, “God with us,” when we are not used to speaking to God by way of prayer, nor to man except by way of opposition and contention? By this, therefore, examine the truth of our interest in Christ.

Those who intend to receive the communion must think: Now I am to be near to Christ, and to feast with him. Christ is with us in his word, in the sacrament. There is a near relation between the bread and the wine and the body and blood of Christ. Now the true child of God is glad of this most special presence of Christ. All true receivers come to the sacrament with joy: Oh, I shall have communion with Emmanuel, who left heaven and took my nature into a nearer hypostatic union, the nearest union of all; and shall I not desire in return the nearest union with him that can possibly be? Oh, I am glad of the occasion, that I can hear his word, pray to him, and receive the sacrament. Let us come in this way with joy, that we may have communion with this Emmanuel, who has such sweet communion with our nature, so that our hearts may be as the Virgin’s womb was, to conceive Christ. I urge you, enlarge on these things in your meditations.

And because we do not know how long we may live here (some of us are sick and weak, and all of us may fall into danger we know not how soon), let it be our comfort that God is Emmanuel. He left heaven and took our nature to bring us there, where he himself is. When the time of our dissolution comes, consider: I am now going to him in heaven, who came down from there to bring me to that eternal mansion of rest and glory. And shall I not desire an everlasting communion with him? God became man that he might make man like God, partaking of his divine nature, in grace here and glory hereafter. Shall I not go to him who suffered so much for me? Therefore St. Paul says, “I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ” (Phil 1:23); and this is the effect of Christ’s prayer: “Father,” he says, “my will is, that where I am they may be also” (John 17:24). And in this God hears Christ: that all who believe in him shall be where Christ is, as he came down from heaven to be where we are. Lay up these things in your hearts, so that you may receive benefit by them.

Sermon 2

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isa 7:14).

We have heard the occasion of these words. The church was in great distress under two mighty kings who threatened great things, but who were in fact only two smoking firebrands that went out of themselves. Ahaz was a wicked king, and wickedness is always full of fears: fearful in trouble, though not before trouble, for those who are least fearful of trouble are most fearful in trouble. God, intending comfort to the church, had the prophet bid him ask a sign. Ahaz, out of guilt of conscience and stubbornness together, would ask none. God intended to strengthen his faith, and he would not take advantage of the offer; and therefore the prophet promises a sign: the grand sign, the sign of all signs, the miracle of all miracles, the incarnation of the Messiah.

Doctrine. By the way, please let me observe this: It is atheistic profaneness to despise any help that God in his wisdom thinks necessary to prop and support our weak faith. Many, out of confidence in their own graces and gifts, refuse the sacrament, except perhaps at one time of the year, though God knows better than we ourselves that we need it; and they refuse the other ordinance of preaching, which God has sanctified. These seem to know themselves better than God does, who out of knowledge of our weakness has set apart these means for strengthening our graces. And as Ahaz provoked God by refusing his help, so these must know that they shall not escape without judgment; for it is a tempting of God, and proceeds from a bad spirit of pride and stubbornness.

We spoke at length of how this promise of the Messiah could be a sign to comfort them. We will now deliver something by way of addition and explanation.

The house of David was afraid that it would die out because of these two great enemies of the church. But, he says, a virgin of the house of David shall conceive a son, and how then can the house of David die out? Secondly, heaven has said it; earth cannot annul it. God has said it, and all the creatures in the world cannot annihilate it. It was the promise made to Adam when he had fallen. It ran along to Abraham, and afterwards to the patriarchs, so that it must needs be so.

It was the custom of the men of God in those times, led by the Spirit of God, in any distress to have recourse to the promise of the Messiah, for this end among others: to raise themselves up by an argument drawn from the greater to the less. God will give the Messiah; God will become man; “a virgin shall conceive a son”; and therefore he will give you lesser mercies.

I note this by the way for this end, to teach us a sanctified manner of reasoning. Was it a strong argument before Christ’s coming, that the Messiah shall come and therefore we may expect inferior blessings? And shall we not make use of the same reasoning now that Christ has come in the flesh and is triumphant in heaven? God having given Christ, will he not give all things necessary whatsoever? (Rom 8:32). Shall the reasonings before Christ’s coming be of more force than these, now that Christ has come and is in glory, appearing in heaven for us?

Beloved, it should be a shame to us not to have the sanctified art of reasoning, to argue from the gift of Christ to the giving of all things needful for us.

The ground of this reasoning is this: all other promises, whatever they are, are secondary to the grand fundamental promise of Christ. All promises issue from a covenant founded in the God-man. Now covenants come from love; and love is founded in the first one loved, who is the foundation of all love. Therefore, if God gives Christ, the foundation of love, and out of love makes a covenant, and as branches of the covenant gives many promises, then, having made good the main promise of all, Jesus Christ, will he not make good all the rest? And therefore we should often have in our hearts and thoughts the accomplishment of all promises in Christ, and from there make use of it to expect all inferior promises; for they issue from that love of God in Christ which is already fully manifested.

We have spoken of the preface, “Behold,” a word usually set before all the passages of Christ’s life: his birth, his resurrection, his coming again. And with great reason.

For what do we usually behold with earnestness? Rare things, new things, great things, especially if they are great to the point of admiration and concern us closely; useful things, especially if they are present. And is anything rarer than “A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,” than the incarnation of Christ? Never was there the like in nature, never the like in heaven or earth, that God and man should be in one person. It is a rare thing, a new thing; it is great to the point of wonder. And therefore in the ninth chapter of this prophecy, “His name shall be called Wonderful” (Isa 9:6): wonderful in his conception and birth, as in many other respects.

And then it is all for us: “To us a child is born, to us a Son is given,” in the same chapter. For us, and for us men, he came down from heaven. And then all these things are present to the eye of faith. Faith knows no difference of time.

Christ is present to the eye of faith now. We see him sacrificed in the sacrament and in the word. Faith knows no distance of place, as well as no distance of time. We see him in heaven, as St. Stephen did, sitting at the right hand of God for the good of his church (Acts 7:56); and therefore, “behold.”

If anything ever was or shall be great, from the beginning of the world to eternity, this is great, this is wonderful. And if anything in the world is fit for us, and if anything dignifies the soul and raises the soul above itself, it is this wonderful object.

Out of our weakness we wonder at poor petty things, as the disciples did at the building of the temple: “What stones are these?” (Mark 13:1). We wonder at greatness of birth and place; but, alas, what is fit for the soul, being a large and capacious thing, to stand in admiration of? Here is that which transcends admiration itself. “Behold, a virgin shall conceive a son”; and therefore attend to the great matter in hand. This I thought good to add to what I formerly delivered on that particular.

“A virgin shall conceive a son.”

You need not go farther than the text for wonders, for here are two great ones: a virgin a mother, and God man.

So in the words you have the conception and the birth of Christ, his human nature, his divine nature, and his office, to reconcile God and us in one.

As he is God in our nature (he took our nature into communion of person), so his office is to bring God and man together; his two natures are to fit him for his office. God and man were as distant terms as could be, unless it be the devil and God. And therefore God-man in one person must perform the great office of bringing together those who were on such opposite terms.

Of his conception by the Virgin Mary we spoke sufficiently; only we will add this for further explanation. A further type of this was in the birth of Isaac. Isaac, you know, was born of a dead womb. Christ was conceived of a virgin, in a manner far more improbable than the other. Isaac was the son of the promise; Christ was the promised seed; both were in some sort miraculously born. For indeed it was a true wonder that Isaac should be born of a dead womb, and here that a virgin should conceive. Sarah had nothing to supply moisture and sap to the fruit; and so here there was nothing of a man to further Christ’s conception.

I will show why there must be this kind of conception of Christ, which will help our faith exceedingly.

1. Christ must of necessity be without all sin; for otherwise, when he took our nature, stubble and fire would have been joined together. “God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:29); and therefore the nature must be purified and sanctified by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin.

2. And then again, in the conception there must be a foundation of all obedience, active and passive, and of all that was afterwards excellent in Christ. If there had been any blemish in the foundation, which was his conception, if he had not been pure, there would have been a defect in all that issued from him, his active obedience and his passive obedience; for everything savors of the principle from which it comes. And therefore it was God’s great work in this strange conception that sin might be stopped at the root and beginning, and nature might be sanctified in its foundation; and so that he might pursue sin from the beginning to the end, both in his life, by living without sin, and also in his death, by making satisfaction for sin.

And therefore let us ground our faith on this: that our salvation is laid on one who is mighty, God-man, and on one who is pure and holy; and therefore holy in his active obedience, and holy in his passive obedience.

Again, he came to be a surety for us; and therefore he must pay our whole debt: he must pay the debt of obedience; he must pay the debt of punishment. Now obedience must come from a pure nature, and his death must extend to the satisfying of an infinite justice. And therefore he must be conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of a pure virgin.

And we must understand that in this conception of Christ there were two or three things in which there was a main difference between Christ and us.

(1) Christ was in his human nature altogether without sin. We are sinful in our nature.

(2) Again, Christ’s human nature always had its subsistence in the divine, and it was never out of the divine nature. As soon as his body and soul were united, it was the body and soul of God. Our natures are not so.

(3) And then there is a difference in the manner of propagation. His was altogether extraordinary. Adam was of the earth, of neither man nor woman; Eve was of man, without a woman; all others are of Adam and Eve; Christ was of a virgin, and without a man. But setting aside his subsistence in the second person and the extraordinary means of his propagation, Christ and we are all one. He had a true human body and soul, and all things like ourselves, sin and the differences just named excepted.

Why Christ had to be man we have already heard. He became man to be suited to us in our nature, and to sympathize with us in all our troubles.

“And shall call his name Immanuel.” “They shall call his name Immanuel,” says the New Testament (Matt 1:23). That is, he shall be Emmanuel indeed, and shall be known to be so, and proclaimed to be so. Whatever has a name is made manifest. Christ existed before he took our flesh, but he was not called Emmanuel. It did not openly appear that he was God in our nature; he had not yet been conceived in the womb of a virgin. Those who lived before Christ knew that he would come, but when he was conceived and born, he was then called Emmanuel.

There were various presences of Christ before he came. He was in the “bush” as a sign of his presence. He was in the “ark” as a sign of his presence. He was in the prophets and kings as a type of his presence. He took upon himself the shape of a man as a representation of his presence when he talked with Abraham and the patriarchs. But all this was not “God with us” in our nature. He took that shape on for a time and laid it aside again. But when he was Emmanuel, and was called and declared to be so, he took our nature upon himself, never to lay it aside again. He was born in our nature, brought forth in our nature, lived in our nature, died in our nature, was crucified in our nature, became a curse for us in our nature, was buried in our nature, rose in our nature, is in heaven in our nature, and will abide there in our nature forever.

All their faith before he came in the flesh rested in confidence that he would take our flesh in the fullness of time. Now the time came when he was called Emmanuel, and then the Word became flesh and took our nature upon himself.

From this, that God took our nature upon himself in the second person, several things worth considering follow.

(1) For it appears that he has dignified and raised our nature above the angels, because he has taken the seed of Abraham and not the angels. What a wonderful advancement of our nature this is: for God to be with us, to marry so poor a nature as ours; for the great God of heaven and earth to take dust into the unity of his person! If this may not have a “behold” before it, I do not know what may.

(2) Put it all together. Think of the great God of heaven and earth, before whom the angels cover their faces, the mountains tremble, and the earth quakes, taking our flesh and dust into the unity of his person, and doing it for such ends: to save sinful man, and from so great a misery as eternal misery, and from such great enemies, and then to advance him to as great a happiness as we are advanced to. Take Christ, Emmanuel, through the whole course of his mediation, and there is ground for wonder indeed.

(3) But consider it especially in the raising and advancing of our natures to be one with God. Shall God be “God with us” in our nature in heaven, and shall we defile the natures that God has so dignified? Shall we, whom God has raised above the angels, live like beasts? Let swearers, beastly persons, and profane hypocrites either change their ways or else admit that they do not believe these truths. Can a man believe that God has taken his nature into the unity of his person and has raised it above all angels, and then turn beast, yes, devil incarnate, in opposition to Christ and his cause? What a shame this is! Can this happen where these things are believed? A Christian should have high thoughts of himself: “What! Shall I defile the nature that God has taken into the unity of his person?”

(4) And as he has dignified, raised, and advanced our nature so highly, so likewise he has infused and placed all the riches of grace in our nature. For all the grace that a finite nature can be capable of is in Christ, since Christ is nearest the fountain. Now, the human nature being so near the fountain of all good, that is, God, it must necessarily be as rich as a nature can possibly be capable of. And is this not for our good? Are not all his riches for our use?

And therefore, seeing that our nature is dignified by Emmanuel and enriched exceedingly by his graces, almost to the point of the infinite, shall we defile that nature? For our human nature is not turned into God, as some imagine; it is not deified and so made infinite. Yet in Christ as man there is as much grace as the creature can be capable of.

(5) And from this, that our nature is engrafted into the Godhead, it follows that what was done in our nature was of wonderful reach, force, and dignity, because it was done when our nature was knit to the Godhead. And therefore it answers all objections, such as this one: How could the death of one man satisfy for the deaths of many millions?

It was the death of Christ, whose human nature was engrafted into the second person of the Trinity. For because they were but one person, whatever the human nature did or suffered, God did it. If they had been two persons, God would not have died, God would not have suffered, God would not have redeemed his church.

And therefore the Scripture speaks comfortingly of this: “God hath redeemed the church with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). Has God blood? No. But the nature that God took into unity of person has blood; and so, that nature being one person with God, God shed his blood. It is God who purchased a church with his blood. It is God who died. The Virgin Mary was the mother of God, because she is the mother of that nature which was taken into unity with God.

From this comes the dignity of whatever Christ did and suffered. Though he did it in our nature, the Godhead gave it its worth; and not only worth, but God put a certain activity, vigor, and force into all that Christ did. It exalts Christ as Mediator according to both natures. And from this arises the communication of properties, as divines call it, which I will not speak of now. It is enough to see that whatever was done by Christ was done by God, since he is Emmanuel, and therefore it had its worth and dignity to prevail with God.

Hence comes a forceful reason that God must satisfy divine justice, because it was the action of a God-man. His great sufferings were the sufferings of the second person in our nature. And from this satisfaction and merit comes reconciliation between God and us. God being satisfied by Christ, God and we are on terms of peace. Our peace is well founded if it is founded in God the Father, through God the Son taking our nature into the unity of his person.

These things must have an influence on our comforts and on our lives and conduct, since they are the grand articles of faith. And therefore we ought to think of them often. We must draw principles of comfort and holiness from here, as from the greatest arguments there can be. That is why I want to be exact about them. God is Emmanuel especially to make God and us one. Christ is our friend in taking our nature, to make God and us friends again.

Question. But how does friendship between God and us arise from this, that Christ is God in our nature?

I will give two or three reasons for it.

(1) It is good reason that God should be at peace with us, because sin, the cause of division, is taken away. It is sin that separates between God and us, and if sin is taken away, God is mercy itself, and mercy will have its free course. What stops mercy but sin? Take sin away, and mercy runs at full flood. Christ therefore became Emmanuel, God with us, because “He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world” (John 1:29).

Before Adam had sinned there was sweet agreement and communion between Adam and God; but sin divided between God and the creature. Now that Christ has made satisfaction for all our sins, there can be nothing but mercy.

(2) Again, Christ is a fit person to knit God and us together, because our nature is pure in Christ, and therefore in Christ God loves us. After satisfaction, God looks on our nature in Christ and sees it pure in him. Christ is the glory of our nature. Now if our nature is pure in our head, who is the glory of our nature, God is reconciled to us and loves us in him who is pure, outside of whom God cannot love us.

As Christ is pure, and our nature in him, so he will make us pure at length.

(3) Christ, being our head of influence, conveys the same Spirit that is in him to all his members, and by that Spirit he purges his church little by little and makes her fit for communion with himself. For he makes us “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4). He took our frail human nature that we might partake of his divine nature, that is, of his divine qualities: to be holy, pure, humble and obedient as he was.

And so Christ, being a head not only of eminence, to rule and govern, but of influence, to flow by his Spirit into all his members, is fit to be a reconciler, to bring God and us together. This is partly because our nature is in him, and partly because he communicates to us the same Spirit that is in himself, and little by little makes us holy like himself.

I hasten to the main use of all.

(4) Then God the Father and we are on good terms, for the second person is God in our nature for this very end, to make God and us friends. There is a notable place of Scripture which I note for the sake of its expression, where the speaker mentions a “daysman”: “There is no daysman between us, that might lay his hand on us both” (Job 9:33); that is, a middle person to lay his hand on the one and on the other. Now Christ is the middle person, as the second person in the Trinity. And then he is God and man, and therefore he is fit to be mediator, to lay his hand on both sides: on man as man, on God as God. And Christ is a friend to both, to God as God and to man as man, and therefore he is fit to be an umpire, to be a daysman, to be a mediator. And he has done it to good purpose, making good in heaven what he did on earth.

And therefore labor to make a gracious use of all this. I know nothing in the world more useful, no point of divinity more fruitful, no greater spring of sanctifying duty, than this: that God and man were one, to make God and us one. He married our nature that he might marry our persons.

Use 1. And if it is true that God and man are brought to terms of reconciliation on such a foundation as the God-man, then ought we not to make the most of this comfort? Do we have such a foundation of comfort, and shall we not make use of it? Shall we have wisdom in the things of this world, and not make use of the grand comforts that concern our souls?

Use 2. But how shall we make the most of it? In all our necessities and wants, go to God. How? Through Christ, the God-man, who is in heaven making intercession and appearing for us by virtue of the satisfaction he made on earth. Therefore we may go boldly to the throne of grace, to God, being reconciled by God. God has God at his right hand, appearing for us; and shall we be afraid to go to the throne of grace? When we lack strength, comforts, or anything else, let us go to God in the mediation of Emmanuel, and then God can deny us nothing that we ask with the spirit of faith in the name of Christ.

I beseech you, therefore, let this be the main use: continually to make the most of the gracious privileges we have by Emmanuel. Our nature is now acceptable to God in Christ, because he has purified it in himself; and God’s nature is lovely to us, because he has taken our nature. If God loved his own Son, he will love our nature as joined to his Son; and God’s nature is lovely to us. He took our flesh upon himself and made himself bone of our bone. And shall we not love and delight in what was so graciously procured by Emmanuel?

Consider it, and let it be the ground of reverent and bold prayer, so that in all our wants we go to God in Emmanuel.

Use 3. Let us make use of it likewise on behalf of the church. The church is “Emmanuel’s land,” as you have it in the next chapter: “The stretching out of his wings shall be the breadth of thy land, O Emmanuel” (Isa 8:8). The church of the Jews was Emmanuel’s land, but then it was fenced in within the bounds of the Jews. But now the Gentiles are taken in. The church is scattered and spread abroad over the whole earth.

And therefore go to God on behalf of the church: “You took our nature into the unity of your person, that you might be a gracious and merciful head. And therefore look in mercy on your own mystical body, the church.” Those who lived before Christ came in the flesh and had the spirit of faith knew that the church of the Jews could not become extinct, because Emmanuel was to come from it.

And we may know that the church shall never be destroyed until the second coming of Christ, because the things God has promised are not yet performed, and they must be performed. And therefore we may go as boldly to Christ and spread the cause of the church before him now, as they spread the cause of the Jews before him then: “Look upon your land, look upon your church, O Emmanuel.”

That there must be a church we must believe, and we cannot believe in a thing that has no being. We must have ground for our faith. And therefore never fear that heresy shall overspread the face of the church. “Emmanuel’s land” shall be preserved one way or another, though perhaps not in the way we expect. God must have a church to the end of the world. The gospel must gain ground. Antichrist must fall. God has said it, and man cannot unsay it. And therefore, in every condition of the church, spread its cause before Emmanuel.

When Emmanuel had once come, the church of the Jews wasted away. Therefore, if you want good arguments against the Jews, this is a good one to convince them that Christ has come in the flesh. The church of the Jews was to continue until Emmanuel came, but the church of the Jews has ceased to continue and is now no church. There is now no family of David, and therefore Emmanuel has come.

And for a further use, let us have thoughts of the second coming of Emmanuel, as they had thoughts of the first. Christ was called the consolation of Israel at his first coming, and everywhere in the New Testament it is set down as a sign of a gracious man to look for the appearing of Jesus Christ, and to love it. Now let us comfort ourselves that this Emmanuel will appear in our flesh before long; let us wait for the “consolation of Israel.” Emmanuel came down to us, to take our nature upon himself and to satisfy God’s wrath, that he might take us to heaven with himself, and that we might be with him in glory forever.

And therefore, if we would make a true use of Emmanuel, let us desire to be with him. Before he came in the flesh, Christ delighted to be with the sons of men; he is with us now by his Spirit, and so will be with his church to the end of the world. And shall we not be with him as much as we can? Indeed, he loved our nature so much that he descended from the height of majesty to take our misery and our troubles upon himself; and shall we not desire to be with him in glory?

There are various evidences of whether we have any ground of comfort in this Emmanuel or not. This shall be one.

(1) We may know we have benefit from the first coming of Emmanuel if we have a serious desire for the second coming, if we have a desire to be with him: if, as he came to us in love, we desire to be with him in his ordinances as much as we can, and in humble resignation at the hour of death. How shall we be with him here? Be with him in thoughts, in meditation, in faith and prayer; meet with him wherever he is. He is in the congregation: “Where two or three are gathered together in his name,” he is among them (Matt 18:20). Be with them in all things where he grants his gracious presence.

It is the nature of love to desire perfect union. And therefore the Christian soul, touched by the Spirit of God, will desire “to be dissolved and to be with Christ, as best of all” (Phil 1:23), and will say, “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly” (Rev 22:20). And therefore in the hour of death it is willing to resign itself to God, that it may go to Emmanuel and enjoy the presence of him who left the presence of his Father to take our nature and to be with us on earth.

(2) But the main thing I want you to observe is a matter of comfort from this Emmanuel: that since he has taken our nature upon himself in order to take our persons into the unity of his mystical body, we may have comfort in all conditions. For besides his other ends, he took our nature upon himself that he might take our persons to make up the mystical Christ. He married our nature to marry our persons. And therefore, if he did it for this end, that we might be near him as our nature is near him, shall we not make it a ground of comfort that our persons shall be near Christ as well as our natures?

As Christ has two natures in one person, so many persons make up one mystical Christ, so that our persons are wonderfully near to Christ. The wife is not nearer to the husband, the members are not nearer to the head, the building is not nearer to the foundation, than Christ and his church are to each other. And therefore let us comfort ourselves in this: Christ is Emmanuel, God with us in our nature. And will he let his church, which he has taken so near to himself, be in want? Can the members lack influence when the head has it? Can the wife be poor when the husband is rich? Whatever Christ did to his own body, to his human nature taken into the unity of his person, he will do in some proportion to his mystical body.

I will show you some particulars. He sanctified his natural body by the Holy Spirit, and he will sanctify us by the same Spirit, for there is the same Spirit in head and members. He loves his natural body, and loves it so as never to lay it aside to eternity. And he loves his mystical body now in some sort even more, for he gave his natural body to death for his mystical body. And therefore, as he will never lay aside his natural body, he will never lay aside his church, nor any member of his church. For with the same love with which he loved his natural body he now loves his mystical members. As he rose to glory in his natural body and ascended to heaven, so he will raise his mystical body, so that it shall ascend as he ascended.

I beseech you, therefore, consider what a ground of comfort this is. God took our nature upon himself, besides the grand end of satisfaction, that he might make us like himself in glory, that he might draw us near to himself. And therefore now Christ is in heaven, with commission and authority over all things put into his hand. He has “a name above all names in heaven and earth, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Phil 2:9-10), that is, that every subjection should be given to him. Will he allow any member of his body to suffer more than he thinks fit? No, seeing he is in heaven and glory for his church’s good. For all that he has done and suffered is for the church and the church’s use.

To conclude all, let us consider what we are. Let not a Christian be base-minded. Let him not be cowardly in any cause that is good, or that is God’s. Let him be on God’s side. Who is on his side? A Christian is an impregnable person. He is a person who can never be conquered. Emmanuel became man to make the church and every Christian one with him. Christ’s nature is out of danger of all that is hurtful. The sun shall not shine, the wind shall not blow, to the church’s hurt, for the church’s head rules over all things and has all things in subjection. Angels in heaven, men on earth, devils in hell, all bow to Christ. And shall anything befall those whom he loves, unless it is for their greater good?

Therefore, though they may kill a Christian and imprison him, yet hurt him they cannot. “If God be on our side, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31). But God is on our side, and on what grounds? The God-man has procured him to be our friend; he has satisfied God. And therefore if we believe, we are one with Christ, and so one with God.

We have many against us. The devils are against us; the world is against us, to take away the favor of God, to hinder our access to him in prayer, to stop the church’s communion with God, and to hinder the sweet outcome of all things that befall us, as far as they can. But their malice is greater than their power. If God should let them loose and give the chain into their own hand, though they seem to hurt, yet in the outcome hurt they cannot. And shall we not make use of these things in times of distress? What do they serve for, but to comfort us in all conflicts with Satan and in all the doubts that arise from our sinful hearts? Answer with this: “If God be with us, who can be against us?” If any are against us, name them; if not, be satisfied.

And therefore, come life, come death, Christ is our surety. He lays up our dust and keeps our bodies in the grave; and will Christ lose any member? “Fear not, Jacob, to go down into Egypt, for I will bring thee back again” (Gen 46:3-4). So do not fear to go down into the grave. The Spirit of God will watch over our dust and bring us to heaven. Therefore fear nothing. God will be with us in life and death, yes, forever; and we shall be forever with the Lord, as the apostle says in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. And this is the outcome of all that Emmanuel has done: Christ was one in our nature that he might bring God and us into favor with each other, that we may be forever with him in heaven, that we may be forever with the Lord, which is the fulfillment of all the promises.

For, for this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living (Rom 14:9).

I take the connection between these words and those before them to be this. The apostle’s aim in this chapter is to restrain the harsh judgments some were passing on weaker Christians, especially in matters that are indifferent in themselves, or at least of lesser weight. In the sixth verse he says, “He that regards not a day, regards it not to the Lord; he that eats, eats to the Lord; and he that eats not, to the Lord he eats not, and gives God thanks” (Rom 14:6). His reason is this. Those who eat, or do not eat, do it with a religious regard to the Lord. If they eat, it is to the Lord; if they do not eat, it is to the Lord; that is, in obedience to the Lord. They are to be borne with, because they act out of religious regard. There may perhaps be a little error in the matter, yet some things are so indifferent that they do not determine the character of the action, if it is done to the Lord. Though the action is not altogether to be excused, the person is to be excused, and is not to be harshly judged. Therefore, considering that those who do it and those who do not do it both do it to the Lord, do not be hasty in your judgments.

Question. How does he prove that these holy Christians ate, or did not eat, to the Lord?

Answer. From this: because they were the Lord’s. Those who are the Lord’s live to him and die to him, and therefore they do their particular actions to him. “No man,” he says in verse 7, “lives to himself, nor no man dieth to himself” (Rom 14:7), and that includes every particular action. “Whether we live, we live to the Lord; or whether we die, we die to the Lord; whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom 14:8). So he proves that they eat or do not eat to the Lord, if they are good Christians, because they are the Lord’s.

Those who are the Lord’s live to the Lord, and do every particular action to the Lord. Such people must not be harshly judged, because they are the servants of the Lord.

Question. In the third place, how does he prove that those who live and die to him are the Lord’s?

Answer. He proves it from the main ground in the text: “For, for this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” So you see how the reasoning hangs together. They eat or do not eat to the Lord. Why? “Because they are the Lord’s.” But how is it that they are the Lord’s? It is the purpose of the three actions of Christ named here: “Christ died, and rose again, and revived, for this end, that he might be the Lord of the dead and of the living.” So you see how these words connect with what went before.

In these words you have the argument and the reasoning drawn from the argument; the ground, and the inference from the ground. The ground is this: “Christ died, and rose again, and revived.” What is the inference from that? “That he might be Lord of the dead and of the living.”

In these words, therefore, we will consider the argument itself, that is, the ground, and then the inference.

“For, for this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived.”

The ground has three branches: Christ died, rose, and revived.

We will speak of the inference afterward, and show how these grounds establish it, that he should be “Lord both of the dead and of the living.”

“Christ died.”

1. You must know, first of all, that Christ died here as a public person, or else the inference would not hold. Christ took upon himself the nature of man, not the person of any man, and he did so for this end, that he might be a public person. If Christ had taken the person of some individual, there would have been two persons in Christ. He would have died in one person and not in the other. But since he had the nature that is common to all men, and not the person of Peter or James or anyone else, when he died, the person died in that nature in which he could die. So when it is said, “Christ died,” we must consider Christ as a public person, who did not take the particular person of any man, but took the general nature of man into union with the second Person. Christ died as a public person.

2. Christ died as the “second Adam.” The spring of all misery and death came from the “first Adam,” but the “second Adam” was a quickening Spirit (1 Cor 15:45). He died as a public person, and as the “second Adam.”

We must know, moreover, that he died as the great High Priest of the church, offering to God the Father a sacrifice that made him Lord over all, as we shall see later. He died as a priest, as indeed he was the one foreshadowed by all the sacrifices and priests. He was both priest and sacrifice: “By the eternal Spirit” (that is, the Godhead) “he offered himself to his Father” (Heb 9:14).

3. Again, he died a voluntary death, for otherwise he would not have died in obedience. His death was violent with regard to those who forced it upon him, but it was voluntary with regard to those for whom he offered himself as a sweet sacrifice to his Father. That willingness made his death a sweet sacrifice. Whatever the Father did to him, he joined with the Father in it. The Father gave him; he gave himself. The Father appointed him to be this and that, and he joined with the Father in all things. “No man takes away my life from me,” he says himself (John 10:18). It was a voluntary death in respect of his freedom. More than that, he thirsted after it, as you have it in the Gospel. He longed for it on high considerations. It is true that on a lower consideration, as it was a tormenting thing and a bitter cup, he desired that it might pass; but that was on lower grounds. On higher grounds, the will of his Father and the salvation of mankind, he thirsted to drink of that cup.

A man may both will and refuse the same thing, according to the different objects, aspects and reasons set before him. What a man may decline, as we say, in one respect, looking to a particular end, he may desire when he looks to a higher end, because man is made always to yield to the stronger reason. So it is no objection to say, “He seemed at times a little unwilling.” It was his looking at something set before him that made him unwilling in that respect. But looking at other considerations, he gave himself willingly; the Father and he joined together.

Let me note by the way, then, that when people talk of his active and passive obedience, there was action in all his passion, that is, in all his suffering. Above all, in his suffering there was action. For if it had been mere suffering without voluntary obedience, what obedience would that have been? A beast may suffer in that way, but against its will. His voluntary obedience was the chief thing in all his suffering. “He humbled himself to the death of the cross” (Phil 2:8).

4. Further, as he died willingly, so he died as our surety. Therefore he died the cursed death that was due to us. “He was made a curse for us” (Gal 3:13), that he might remove the curse from us. These and similar conclusions must be noted in the apostle’s words, “To this end Christ died,” because we shall have use for them later.

Here we might stop and wonder that life should die! That glory should become shame for us! That he who is the author of all blessing should become a curse! Indeed, it is a great mystery that Christ, being God, should stoop so low that he could join together the infinite majesty of God and that low degree of abasement to which he was willing to descend. Lord, how far do you go down? He could not go lower and still be God. God, to show his love to us, showed himself God in this: that he could be God and yet go so low as to die, and not only to die, but to die a shameful and cursed death for us. But I pass on to the particulars.

“For this end Christ both died and rose…”

1. He rose again; and indeed it was impossible that he should not rise again, because he is the Lord of life. The Lord of life, and life itself, could not stay dead for long. It was only by special dispensation that he died, namely, to work our salvation. But he could not be held any longer by the sorrows of death. So he died, and he rose. He rose just as he died. He rose as a public person, and as a “second Adam,” to give and pour spiritual life into all his branches. He rose as our surety, in our place. He rose in spite of the Jews, who labored to keep him down with all their might. By the way, this shows that he will rise in his church, in his children, in his religion and in his cause. Let the world and all the devils in hell lay a stone upon Christ, upon his cause, his church and his children; they will rise again, just as his blessed body did, in spite of all the watchfulness of the Jews.

2. Again, as he rose, so he rose with many, and not alone, to show, as I said before, that he rose as a public person. When another man rises, he rises as himself alone; the rest do not rise with him as if caused by his rising. But Christ rose as a public person. Therefore many rose with him (Matt 27:53). The graves were opened to show that he rose as a public person, as our surety, as a spiritual head, and as the “second Adam,” who could pour life into others. What became of the bodies that rose with him afterward? Scripture says nothing about it, any more than it says what became of Moses’s body. They rose to do God a service and Christ an honor. Once they had done it, they were content to be disposed of by God again and, it is likely, to return to where they came from. For if the Head of the church himself was content to come from heaven into the virgin’s womb, and from there to the cross, and from there to the grave, and to be abased for us, then those who have the Spirit of Christ, those blessed souls in heaven, might well be content for a time to be abased, to take bodies, and to do a service for their Lord and Master. He was content to forgo heaven for thirty-four years, and the glory due to him.

So, by the way, if God will use us for some particular service to the church, however great we may be, shall we stand on our dignity? The blessed saints in heaven, those blessed souls, were content to come and take bodies for a time, to do God service, and then to sleep again.

3. Again, he rose on the day that was ever afterward called the Lord’s day, and may well still be called so; for a new world began with his rising, and therefore a new Sabbath. Saint John says, “I was in the Spirit upon the Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10). If a man is ever in the Spirit, it is on the Lord’s day. Then the Lord of the day honors his people, giving them the enjoyment of his ordinances, and, joining effectually with them, fills them with the Spirit and raises up our dead hearts after him.

“And revived.”

Why is this added to his rising again? “He revived.”

1. To show that he rose never to die again, and that he never meant to lay that body down again, as he once had, to die for us. In keeping with this is Revelation 1:18: “Behold, I was dead and am alive, and I live for evermore; I have the keys of death and of hell.” He lives for evermore, as in Hebrews 7:25: He sits for evermore at the right hand of God, there making intercession for us. He dies no more.

2. Again, this word “revived” is added to show the kind of life he now has, which differs from the life he lived before. The life he lived before he died was sustained by food and drink and refreshment, just as our poor lives are. It was a life subject to death, the life he died in. But after his resurrection, except for a particular dispensation to confirm the faith of his disciples, he no longer needed to eat or drink or sleep, or any natural supports and helps. He was quickened directly by the Spirit of God flowing into him. He was full of the Spirit, and the Spirit supplied all other things whatever. It will be just as in heaven, where “God shall be all in all” (1 Cor 15:28). That is, he will be so directly present to us, to supply everything, that we shall neither eat nor drink nor sleep, nor have magistrates or ministers; the Spirit of God will be all in all. So it was with this life of our blessed Savior when he revived. The Spirit made up for the absence of all the other supports he had used before he died. And indeed, our Savior Christ came to bestow on us the life he lived after his resurrection, not this natural life of ours that needs food and drink and refreshment. This natural life is not the life Christ chiefly aimed at when he came to die. He aimed at that spiritual and eternal life which he lived after the resurrection: a life not subject to death, a spiritual life that needs no created support whatever.

You see the grounds. The inference from these grounds follows in these words: “that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” The ground has three branches: death, resurrection and reviving. I will touch on each in turn to show how all of these flow into this inference and give it strength.

1. Christ died “that he might be Lord of the dead and of the living.”

Christ died, according to 1 Peter 1:18, to offer himself as a sacrifice, to redeem us by his precious blood. “We are not redeemed with gold or silver, but with the blood of Christ.” He could not be our Lord until he had bought us. Now his death was the price of our redemption. I say “redemption,” that is, buying back, not simply buying. A thing may be bought that was never sold away before. But we were sold to Satan and were under a hostile government. Now Christ, by satisfying divine justice, redeems us. He buys us back. We had subjected ourselves to the devil and put ourselves under his rule until we were ransomed by Christ. Christ could have no right to us until the price was paid to divine justice, for mercy must have justice satisfied; the attributes of God must not fight against one another. Christ, therefore, is our Lord because by his death he gave full satisfaction to divine justice. So now, justice notwithstanding, we are Christ’s and are saved. More than that, the justice of God now helps us. The most terrible attribute, justice, is a ground of comfort, for it is not consistent with justice to have the same debt paid twice. For God is just and faithful, says the apostle (1 John 1:9). So you see there is a ground in his death for why we are the Lord’s. We are Christ’s because we cost him dearly. He has paid a price for us that is worth more than the whole world. God showed his love in nothing more than in this, that he parted with what is next to himself, the greatest, his Son. Though he was God, he died in the nature that could die, to redeem us, and so he becomes Lord.

2. He rose again; therefore “he is Lord of the quick and the dead.”

(1) Because his rising again was a demonstration that his death was a full satisfaction to divine justice. Otherwise our sins would have kept him in the grave still, since he was our surety. But since our surety is out of prison, it is a sign that he has fully discharged all our debt and that the price is paid. If the surety and the creditor are agreed, we know the debt is paid.

(2) In rising again he is Lord, because in rising again he entered into the possession and exercise of the lordship he had purchased. The right is one thing, and the use and possession of the right is another. Christ was Lord of us before he died. He was Lord of us when he died. But he did not enter into possession of his lordship until he rose again. Therefore he says, “All power is given to me, both in heaven and earth” (Matt 28:18), when he was about to go up to heaven, to show that by his resurrection the right he had gained by his death was made manifest.

(3) Lastly, because his rising again showed that the Father was fully pacified. He obtained the gift of the Spirit, which, next to Christ himself, is the greatest gift. God gave his Son first, and then the Spirit, who comes from the Father and the Son. The Spirit was not given until his resurrection and ascension (John 7:39). Why? Because until all enemies were fully subdued by his death, and shown to be subdued by his resurrection, the Spirit could not be so fully given, since the Spirit is a declaration of the goodwill of the God who sent him. But when the enemies of Christ had been triumphed over, and God had shown by raising his Son again that he was fully satisfied, then the Spirit comes as the sun of God’s favor. This Spirit enables us to be subject to Christ and brings us under Christ’s kingdom, which is a spiritual government. Because he obtained the Spirit for his members upon his resurrection, the inference is good: he rose again, therefore he is Lord “of the quick and of the dead.”

3. He revived; therefore he is Lord of the living and the dead. Having revived, and taken up a life that is no longer subject to death, he is now in heaven to make good what he purchased on earth. He revived, I say, to be King, Priest and Prophet at the right hand of God forever. There he rules his church and overrules all its enemies until he has subdued them all; until he has gathered all the elect (Matt 24:31), brought his church out of the world, and made “his enemies his footstool” (Ps 110:1). You see, then, that the ground is good and the inference is good: “Christ died, and rose, and revived,” that he might be Lord of the living and the dead. I come now to the thing proved.

“That he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”

Christ is Lord both of the dead and of the living. To make the point clearer, let us see what lordship is.

“Lordship,” properly speaking, is a right over things and persons. It is a right, and where it is complete, it is a right together with possession, whether of things or of persons.

But what kind of “lordship” is this?

1. Christ is a universal Lord, of all and over all, over the whole world, over all the dead and all the living. But more especially, and in a particular way, he is Lord of his church, as a husband is lord over his wife, which is a lordship with sweetness. So Christ’s government is carried on with unspeakable, inconceivable sweetness. He is Lord as the Elder Brother, as the firstborn is over the rest, for he is the “first begotten among the dead” (Rev 1:5). This too is a sweet government. It is indeed the lordship of a king over his subjects, since his lordship is a branch of his kingly office; but it is a lordship that serves the good of his subjects. It is not a happiness that passes to one side only; the head and the subjects both enjoy it. Christ counts himself happy in his church, which is his fullness. The church is “the fulness of him that filleth all things” (Eph 1:23). And still more especially, the church is most happy under this government. It is a lordship that is, indeed, wholly for the good of the subjects. “To us a child is born, to us a Son is given” (Isa 9:6). He died, and rose, and revived, and all of it is for us. A Christian may say of Christ, as one has well said, that he is wholly spent for my uses. He is all mine; he is all laid out for my use and profit. It is a lordship that makes all his subjects kings. Therefore it is said, “He loved us, and gave himself for us” (Eph 5:2): to purify his church, as it says in Ephesians 5:26, and also to “make us kings and priests” (Rev 1:6). Notice here what a remarkable retinue attends Christ. He is served by none but kings. All God’s children are kings. Even the lowliest servant anywhere in the world is, in spiritual respects, a king. What a Lord and King this is, who makes all his servants kings! You see, therefore, that as Christ is a universal Lord, so he is also a particular Lord over his church.

2. Again, he is an independent Lord; only his Father joins with him in everything. He is subordinate to his Father as Mediator, but he is independent of all human authority whatever. All human authority is derived from him: “By me princes reign” (Prov 8:15). His government is altogether independent of all those governments. Therefore he is called “the Lord of lords” and “King of kings.” He is Lord Paramount, as we say, over all, and they all are, or should be, dependent on him.

3. He is likewise a Lord of the whole man, body and soul. He is a spiritual Lord. He commands not only the body but the soul. He sits especially on the throne of the conscience, and there he subdues the conscience and the soul to himself. There he prescribes laws to the conscience. He pacifies the conscience, establishes it, and settles it against all fears and terrors whatever. He is Lord of body and soul, and especially of the soul. He bows the neck of the inward man and brings it to be wholly subject to him. He lays his command upon the very soul itself.

4. He is an eternal Lord. You see here that he is Lord of “the living and of the dead.” All other lords have nothing to do with men once they are dead. They can do them no more harm. They have some power, indeed, over their dead bodies, but alas, a dead body feels nothing. Their government ends at death, because they are lords over the outward man only. But Christ’s lordship continues when we are gone from here, and then more especially. For then we are more immediately with him. We are nearer the fountain when our souls have gone to him who gave them. “I desire,” says St. Paul, “to be dissolved, and to be with Christ, which is best of all” (Phil 1:23). He is Lord then especially, when we are gone from here.

5. In a word, he is an excellent Lord, for he has everything a lord should have. A lord should have three things: authority; suitable virtues and abilities; and power and strength answerable to all. Now the Lord Christ has all of these. First, he has authority, for God the Father gave him power over all. He purchased it, and his Father gave it to him: He gave him the heathen for his possession (Ps 2:8); and, “All power is given to me in heaven and earth” (Matt 28:18). And he has full authority, as it says in John 17:2: “Thou hast given me power over all flesh.” So he has authority. Second, he has all the graces and virtues fit for a lord and governor. He has righteousness, wisdom, bounty, affections, and so on. We need not doubt it, for he is the spring of all these in others. “His sceptre is a sceptre of righteousness” (Ps 45:6). Third, he has strength answerable to his authority, for he is a Lord who is God. Among men, authority sometimes lacks power or other qualifications; but in Christ is everything, the utmost and greatest fullness of all. With these things set down first, let us make some use of it all.

But first, let us see why it says, “He is Lord both of the dead and of the living,” putting the dead before the living. It is to show, I take it, that Christ is Lord of those who died before as well as of those who are alive now. Christ is the Lord of all, from the beginning of the world, from Adam to the last man who shall stand upon the face of the earth. Therefore he is Lord of those who died before, as well as of those who are alive now and who shall die afterward. “He is Lord of the dead, and of the living.” Now for application. First, where he says, “For this end.”

Use 1. It is a wonderfully rich point, and full of very comforting use. First, it shows that the grounds of a Christian’s faith and comfort are very strong, as you see from how the Holy Spirit dwells on the argument: “For this end,” he says, “Christ died and rose again and revived, that he might be Lord of the living and of the dead.”

God does everything for ends, since it is a point of wisdom to set an end before oneself and to work toward it. If God has an end and a providence in the hairs that fall from our heads, does he not have a far greater one in ordering things for the good of the church? His Son is given to death and raised again. It is for the greatest end in the world, since it is the greatest work. The greatest work has the greatest end. Such was this end, the lordship of the church. “For this end,” he says, “Christ died, and rose again, that he might be Lord of the dead, and of the living,” that is, of his church.

And is this Christ’s end, to be Lord of the living and of the dead? Then we must make it our end too, to serve Christ, to live and die to him. For since we are under him, our ends must answer to his, as we shall see later. “For this end.”

Use 2. Again, where it says that he died, and rose, and revived, “that he might be Lord of the dead and of the living”: it is a profitable course (I speak only in general) that when we think of the abasement of Christ, we also think of the end for which it was. And so with his exaltation. It is good to keep these together, to avoid the offense that might arise in our minds from either one thought of by itself, as that God should stoop so low. Lest the thought of Christ dying and stooping so low should offend us, it is good to think also of the end, that “he might be Lord of the living and the dead.” And if that dazzles you in turn, when you think of our Savior now in glory, full of majesty in heaven, and ask how you shall have access to so glorious a majesty, then oh, come down again! Think of God incarnate, God going up and down in our flesh, God dying, dying a cursed death, and rising again. Weave these thoughts together like this in your meditations, to avoid offense. Think of his glory. And so that you may not be so amazed at the glory as to be deterred from going boldly to him, think of him who is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, God dying in your nature. Join these two together. “For this end the Son of God died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”

Use 3. Again, you see here in general that the grand principal points of religion have an influence on all the particulars. There is a homogeneous deduction, as we call it, of divine truths one from another. They all depend on one another, and so does all theology. For however contrary divine truth may sometimes be to carnal reason, there is strong reason in all divine truth. For one truth is the cause of another, and one depends on another, as here: “Christ died, and rose, and revived.” One follows another. What follows from all this? “To be Lord of the living and the dead.” How then does he prove that he is Lord of all? Because he died, and rose, and revived. One rises from another. So although carnal reason is one thing and theology as a whole is another, yet in theology there is reason and deduction, one thing issuing from another, most wisely and holily. And it is part of wisdom to observe how conclusions rise from principles, as branches and buds do from roots. Indeed, if we would seriously consider the grounds of religion, how they give life and rise into their particulars, they would have an influence on the whole course of our lives, as perhaps we shall see more clearly in the particulars. “For this end…”

Use 4. Again, in general, when he says that Christ is “Lord of the living and of the dead,” we see from this the truth of the catholic, that is, the universal church, from the first man living to the end of the church, under one head, Christ. Christ is the Savior of those who lived before the law, under the law, and under the gospel. Christ was the Savior of all. He is the Savior of the dead as well as of the living. All come under one head. This serves no further purpose than to inform us in that one point of doctrine, to show that Christ is “yesterday” as well as “today,” tomorrow, “and for ever” (Heb 13:8). All who were saved before, who are saved now, and who shall be saved forever, are saved by Christ. “There is no other name under heaven whereby we can be saved” (Acts 4:12). “He is Lord of the dead and of the living.”

Now, therefore, to come more particularly to “Christ is Lord both of the dead and of the living.” What a Lord is, we heard before.

This is a point of wonderful comfort, and also a point that informs us of our duty. At the same time it shows us that Christ will work that duty in us, because he is a Lord not only who is to rule over us, so that we should be subject to him, but who makes us subject to him. It is a point of wonderful comfort and of duty, and it has this outcome: that we who are under the covenant of grace shall be enabled to perform that duty to our Lord.

And then it is a point of wonderful security in life and in death. For alas, sometimes one thing alarms us, sometimes another. Sometimes we are willing to die; Elijah was afraid to live. Sometimes we are afraid of death, as we all naturally are. Why, come life or death, come what will, we are under a Lord who is Lord of “the dead and of the living.” So it is a point of wonderful security and quiet to a Christian in every circumstance. He sometimes lives and sometimes dies, but his salvation is not so precarious as to be on and off. “Whether he live or die,” he is sure to be saved, for he is under the Lord of the living and the dead.

But let me speak a little of the first point. It is intended for comfort, as well as for direction to our duty, to be subject and to submit to the Lord. It is a comfort that we have a Lord who rules us for our good while we are living, and when we are dead, and forever. And indeed, beloved, we cannot have a greater comfort than this, that “we are not our own, but that we are bought with a price” (1 Cor 6:20), that we are under Christ. Why, what kind of comfort is this, you will say? As the natural man said, a man is not born to subjection but to honor and government. What comfort is it to be under Christ, to be under a governor!

Answer. Oh, beloved, know that it is the greatest comfort. As the rule goes, everything that is weak is perfected by that which makes it subject to something higher. The vine is perfected by leaning on the elm; otherwise it would lie on the ground and be spoiled. The perfection of that weak creature, the sheep, is to have a shepherd. The perfection of a weak nature is to have a rule for its good. The perfection of the ship is the pilot; otherwise it would dash on every rock and be tossed by every wave. And so it is our perfection that we are under a Lord, and such a Lord as this, to whom to serve is to reign, for all his servants are so many kings. It is our perfection to be subject to him. Therefore it is a wonderful comfort that Christ has become “Lord of the living and of the dead.” I beg you, then, think of it in your meditations. All the Scripture aims at this end, to comfort. Whatever is written is written for our comfort. And this is a principle of theology among the rest, that a Christian is not his own man now, but is under Christ.

And this is a comfort both in life and in death, at all times. As the psalmist says, “My times are in thy hands, Lord” (Ps 31:15). He does not say “my time,” but “my times are in thy hand.” So we may say our times are in Christ’s hands: our time of being born, our time of living and dying, and, when we are dead, our time of rising again. Our time, the whole current of our time, is in your hands, not in the devil’s hands, not in our enemies’ hands, beloved, for then they would make short work of us. Our times are in our Lord’s hands. Christ is the Lord of our times, the Lord of our life and death. And when we are dead, he is a Lord forever, for he lives forever, and therefore he is forever a Lord.

Beloved, we do not die at the disposal and good pleasure of any man whatever. They cannot stir so much as a hair from our head without the will of this Lord. All the devils in hell cannot stir a hair of our head, I say, nor can all the men who are driven by the spirit of the devil. They may threaten punishment, but alas, they can do no more than this Lord of lords gives them leave to do. Therefore it is a point of wonderful comfort.

Objection. Oh, but some poor soul will say, “Christ is indeed Lord of the living and of the dead, but I find a great deal of corruption in me, and I am a sinner.”

Answer. Why, he is Lord over you. He has a sweet lordship over you as well as a commanding lordship. He is not only a king but a husband, as it says in Ephesians 5:26-27: He gave himself to purge his church, and to make his church fit little by little. You have sin and corruption, but you have a merciful husband who will bear with the weaker vessel. Does he command others to do that, and will he not practice what he enjoins on others? Undoubtedly he will. Therefore it is a comfort. It is a sweet government and subjection, like that of the husband over the wife. Christ purges and cleanses his church; he does not cast it away.

For consider, I beg you: he who died for his church and children when they were enemies, will he cast them away now that they are poor friends and desire to please him? As St. Paul reasons so divinely, “Much more shall we be saved by his life” (Rom 5:10). If he saved us by his death, much more will he save us now by his life, being in heaven. Consider that he rose and lives forever. Will he, then, who died for us when we were enemies, cast us away for some imperfections? He who will not “quench the smoking flax, nor break the bruised reed” (Matt 12:20), will he cast away his poor children who strive against their corruptions? He will not. No, he has promised that where he has begun a good work, he will finish it until the day of the Lord (Phil 1:6). Though it goes forward only slowly, that beginning is a pledge of further progress. God will never remove his hand from his own work until he has brought it to perfection. Therefore let any soul who will come under this Lord take comfort.

In a word, what greater comfort can we have than this, that he is such a Lord over us as is Lord over all other things in the world besides? For he could not be Lord of his church unless he were Lord over hell, and all power were subject to him. Being so, he is such a Lord of the church as can restrain the power of all creatures whatever. Otherwise, if he were not Lord of all other things as well as of the church, they might harm the church and defy him in his government by their opposition. But this is the comfort of a Christian: he is under a Lord who is Lord of all the enemies of the church. And he is Lord over them in such a way that little by little he makes them his footstool. What is begun in this world shall be completed hereafter by that lordship. Indeed, he will make all the enterprises of the very enemies of his church, whatever they are, serve his poor church. For as the apostle says, “All things are yours, because ye are Christ’s” (1 Cor 3:23). He is such a Lord that, besides being ours himself, he makes all the world ours. Yes, the devil is ours, for in spite of him, whatever he does is ordained for the salvation of the church. The church’s enemies are the church’s servants, its involuntary servants, for they waken the church and scour it. God raises them up to exercise the church, and when he is done with them, you know what course he takes with them. So then he is Lord not only over all; he also overrules their actions for the good of the church, whatever they are, and he makes all the endeavors and plots of the enemy serve the church’s good. All is yours, life and death. Even if it is death by tyrants, any kind of death whatever, it is yours. What a comfort it is that we are under such a Lord as this!

What a comfort this is especially at the hour of death! Christ, who ruled us all our lifetime before, will then take the government and possession of that jewel he bought at such a price, our precious souls. When we must part with friends, and part with this sweet body that the soul so loved, and with the world and all things in the world, then Christ will own us as his when the world will own us no longer. Therefore it seems to me that Christians should be settled and ready for life or death. A Christian never goes out of the dominion of Christ. No, he is nearer to Christ; he is more Christ’s. If any comparison is to be made between when he is dead and when he is alive, “Blessed are those that died in the Lord” (Rev 14:13).

To apply this a little to the present occasion. Here in this sacrament we are to have communion with the Lord, in his death and resurrection. For what is the sacrament but a representation of his body broken and his blood poured out for us, that he might be Lord over us? The more communion and fellowship you have with Christ, the more assurance you shall have that you are his. That is indeed the grand comfort of all, that we are Christ’s and that Christ is ours, for then heaven and earth are ours; all is ours. Now God has ordained these sacraments for this end. The word is the scepter of his kingdom, by which he rules. The sacrament is the seal of the word. Therefore all good subjects who submit themselves to the kingdom of Christ must submit themselves to this sweet ordinance that Christ has ordained for our good, the word and the sacraments. By them we shall find the effectual working of his Spirit in us, subjecting the whole inward man to his gracious government. But since I have spoken of this subject at length before, I only desire you to raise your thoughts to consider whom you have to deal with: him who is Lord of the living and of the dead. We have to deal with the mighty Monarch of heaven and earth, Christ. Therefore come with faith, because he has ordained these things to strengthen faith; and come also with reverence, knowing with whom we are to feast and to deal. Consider these things, and then I hope that God will grant a blessing answerable to the design of his ordinance.

Sermon 2

For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be the Lord both of the dead and of the living (Rom 14:9).

This morning I showed how these words depend on what goes before. A Christian, by the Spirit of God in him, has a blessed aim at all times. However he may fail in particulars, his aim is right.

This doubt arose from a difference of aims, whether he should please God or man. His doubt arose in pleasing God, over what might please him most. And because he does not always see what might please him, he keeps to this honesty: whatever he does, he will do it to the Lord, and whatever he does not do, he will not do it to the Lord. His aim is for good at all times.

Now this is proved from the general disposition of Christians. They live and die to the Lord. Therefore their particular actions must be to the Lord. If their whole life and death are to the Lord, their actions must be to him.

Now he proves that their whole life and death are to the Lord because they are the Lord’s. How does he prove that they are the Lord’s, that is, Jesus Christ’s? Because the text says here, “For this end Christ both died, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”

And surely he is Lord. He will not fail of his end. God never fails of his end, because he can remove every obstacle between himself and his end. Now since it is Christ’s end to be Lord of the living and of the dead, he is Lord. If he is Lord, then those who are under him and led by his Spirit aim, both in life and in death, to glorify him in all things. Let this be said briefly about how the words are inferred.

“To this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived.” Here you have a ground and an inference, an argument and a reasoning from it. The argument or ground is, “Christ died, and rose, and revived.” What rises from it is, “That he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”

As for the ground itself, I told you how Christ died as a public person, as the “second Adam.” And now you are to take notice here that he likewise rose again as a public person, as the “second Adam.”

And he likewise revived, not to die again as in his first life. When he began to live, he began to die; but when he revived, he did not die again. He lives forever to make intercession for us in heaven. Christ never dies again (Rom 6:8 and following). He rose to a life that shall never end. For the divine nature flows into his human nature and directly breathes such a spiritual life into it that it lives forever, by virtue of the Spirit of Christ animating, stirring and moving him, as his natural life did here when he was on the earth.

“Christ died, and rose, and revived.” To what end is all this? What is grounded on it? That Christ is therefore Lord of the living and the dead. This is inferred from all three.

“Christ died,” that he might reconcile us to God by his death, satisfying justice, so that, justice being fully satisfied, he might attain his end of being Lord of his church. He had a mind to marry us, but he could not until he had rescued us. Therefore, to rescue us from divine justice and from the tyranny of Satan, God’s jailer, he made satisfaction to divine justice. As for Satan, he brought us out of his kingdom by a strong hand, and he continually does so by the power of his Spirit. Now from this it must necessarily follow that he must be Lord of what he paid so dear a price for.

And then he rose again for this end, that he “might be Lord.” For although he had a title to be Lord of the church (by the union of the human nature with the divine he was always Lord), yet as regards the exercise of his lordship, it was deferred until his glorious resurrection and ascension. Then what lay hidden before, Christ’s divine power, majesty and lordship, appeared and manifested itself, as it says in Romans 1:4: “He was mightily declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead.” He was the Son of God before, but then it was a kind of begetting, because it was then made manifest. In Scripture and theology, things are said to be when they are evident to be. So on this day of the resurrection Christ was begotten, because it was evident then, by his raising himself from the dead, that he was the only begotten Son of God. Now that made way for his lordship. For after his resurrection God gave him power over all things in heaven and earth. And then, upon the resurrection, he had the Spirit in more abundance, having conquered all the enemies between God and us. So by that he was fit to be Lord, because he could give the Spirit to those over whom he meant to rule.

But then in his own person, by rising he triumphed over all opposing enemies whatever: over death, the last enemy, and over Satan, sin and the law, having canceled them all. Since he has overruled all for himself, surely he will overrule all for his church and people. Therefore he rose again to be “Lord of the living and the dead.” And well he may be, because he is Lord of “the living and the dead” in his own person. He is Lord over all in his own person, and therefore he is Lord over the church and over all the enemies of the church. As far as the enemies seized upon his person, so far he overcame them all. He has as much care for his mystical person, the church, as he had for his own body, and more besides, for he gave the one for the other.

And then he revived to be Lord over all; that is, he lives forever to make good what he has gained by his death. He will not lose the price of his own blood. He is in heaven to appear before God. He sits at the right hand of God and rules there until he has made his enemies his footstool, until he draws his church home to heaven, to himself. “He lives for ever,” as the apostle says, “to make intercession” (Heb 7:25). From this it must necessarily follow that, by living forever, he is fitly qualified to be Lord over all “the living.” Now I proceed.

“That he might be Lord both of the living and the dead.” Christ is Lord both of the dead and of the living. You see on what ground he is Lord of all, as well as of his church. He is an eternal Lord over the dead and the living. He is a transcendent Lord, above all other lords whatever; and he is independent. He is not subject to anyone. All have their power from him. And in some sense, indeed, Christ has redeemed even all other creatures. They are Christ’s. And in some sense even proud, wicked men who live in the church, who perhaps have some gifts (which are the occasion of their damnation, because by means of them they are proud and insolent), are redeemed by Christ to this extent: that they may be serviceable to his church, so that he may use their gifts for his own ends. They go a great way in salvation, so that by their gifts they may be fit to do service to the church. So he is Lord not only over the church but over others, for the service of the church.

Now this point, that Christ is Lord of the dead and of the living, yields many comforting uses. I spoke of some things in general, and then we came to some particulars, such as these.

1. Since Christ is Lord of the living and of the dead, we may take comfort under the sovereignty of Christ. To be Solomon’s servant was counted a great happiness. Those who observed Solomon’s government thought so, as the Queen of Sheba did (1 Kgs 10:8). Alas, what shall we think, then, of those who are under Christ, who “is greater than Solomon” (Matt 12:42), a most great, most wise, most loving, most gracious and powerful Lord over all? Therefore, to add a little to that point, it is a most comforting condition here in this life, even though it is service. It is against the nature of man to serve a man, but not to serve one more noble. To serve God is to reign.

Besides, while we live here, such is our disposition, such is the weakness of base sinners, that they must be ruled by another. And indeed our happiness and security consist in being ruled by someone higher than ourselves. We are not fit to be our own governors. Saint Paul says to the Galatians, “an heir in his nonage differeth little from a servant” (Gal 4:1). So it is with Christians. Until they are in heaven they differ little from servants, and therefore they must be under tutors and government.

And as it is a comforting condition, so it is an honorable one, for Christ’s servants are so many kings. Christ is served by none but kings: not kings who rule over slaves, but kings who in Christ rule over the greatest and most terrible enemies of all. A Christian can think with comfort and encouragement about the very enemies that make the greatest tyrants of the world quake. He can think of death, of sin, of damnation, of judgment, of the law. In all these things Christ’s kingdom is a very different kind of kingdom from the kingdoms of the world. Those are poor kingdoms; their monarch’s head must lie as low as the basest subject they have. They do not know how soon that will be, and perhaps they have a more terrible account to give than anyone under them. It is not so in Christ’s kingdom.

Therefore those Christians who are afraid of death forget their dignity. They forget the one on whom they depend, for Christ is Lord “both of the quick and of the dead.” If Christ is their Lord when they die, why should they fear to die? And therefore let us comfort ourselves when God calls for us. He is our Lord as much when we die as while we live, and more besides, for then our souls have more immediate communion with him. Can there be any greater comfort than this, that we have a Lord forever who died for us, who rose for us, who lives forever, and who makes his subjects immortal too? Put these together: an ever-living Lord and ever-living subjects, existing together, I mean, for the time to come. We indeed have a beginning, while Christ as God has none; but we have an eternal state in which to live forever, and an eternal Lord to rule us forever and to make us happy forever.

What comfort is greater than this? However varied our conditions may be in this world (we live, we die, we are in prosperity, we are in misery), yet here there is no variation in the state of salvation. Christ is not a Lord today and none tomorrow, but “yesterday, today, and the same forever” (Heb 13:8).

2. Again, as it is a point of comfort, so it is also a point of duty. If Christ is our Lord in life and death, our duty is to look to him in life and death, to live and die to him. For our aim must answer to his aim, if we ever intend to come to heaven; for we are creatures with understanding, and we have communion with him in some poor measure. Therefore whatever he makes his end must be our end. His end was that, whether we live or die, he might rule over us. Our end should be to be ruled by him in life and in death.

How shall we live to Christ?

We live to Christ (and this is the ground of all the other duties that follow) when we know and acknowledge that Christ has a full claim on us, by being our head, our husband, our king, our elder brother. He has every sweet claim on us that any relationship can entitle him to. For all other relationships among men are only shadows of that grand relationship; the reality of things is there alone. He is a true head, a true king, a true elder brother, a true husband to his church. All of ours are only poor representations of those glorious things. Know and acknowledge this, then. That is the ground of all living to him.

From knowing and acknowledging this flows all the rest of the obedience in our life to Christ. Those who acknowledge Christ in this way must be directed by his will, and not their own. A servant, insofar as he is a servant, and a wife, insofar as she is a wife, have no will of their own. So whoever lives to Christ and acknowledges him to be Lord must have no will of his own, but must live according to the will of Christ. You have this excellently set down in 1 Peter 4:1-2: “Christ suffered for us in the flesh. Let us arm ourselves therefore with the same mind; for he that suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he should no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh, to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.”

That passage is a commentary on this one: “Christ died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord of the quick and of the dead,” that is, so that we might live according to his will and not according to our own. Do you think our Savior Christ would deny himself so far as to leave heaven, to take our lowly nature on himself, and to be so deeply humbled in it, only to let us live as we please? Oh no! We must live the rest of our days not according to the lusts of men, or our own lusts, but according to the will of God. And therefore, as the apostle urges in Romans 12:2, we must search out what is the acceptable will of God in all things.

What is the purpose of our hearing sermons, of our reading, and of all the pains we take in the means of salvation? It is not only to know what God will do for us, but what he will have from us. He will have the directing of our lives. And therefore, if we live to Christ, we must work to know his good pleasure toward us, what he means to do for us; and so also his good pleasure regarding us, what he wants us to do in return by way of thankfulness. Christ shaped his life directly by his Father’s will: “It is written in the volume of thy book, that I should do thy will, O God” (Ps 40:7). So all who belong to Christ must have the same spirit, to direct their whole lives according to his will.

Now the greatest things of his will (for his will is in the Scriptures) are that we repent; he commands all to repent. His will is that we believe in him. His will is our sanctification, as it says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3. His will is that we suffer, and in suffering submit ourselves to him. The Scriptures are explicit about many other particulars, but these especially are named, to show some of the ways in which we must direct ourselves according to his will. But, not to dwell on particulars, in all things we must work to direct our lives according to his will.

Second, in order to live to God, we must aim at the glory of Christ in all things, and at the credit of religion, not at our own credit. If Christ is Lord of the living and the dead, then while we live we must not seek our own glory, but his. The apostle complains of the opposite: “All seek their own,” he says, “and not the things that are of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil 2:21). We must consider what serves the credit of religion and the honor of Christ, and not what serves our own advantage. Is it not good reason that we should seek the glory of the one who is Lord over us?

By nature proud man is led by a spirit of self-love, and he seeks himself in all things, even in his religion. As far as religion agrees with his own lusts he will be religious, and no further. As long as God’s will is not contrary to his own, he will do God service; but once it crosses his will, he will let God go and find himself another servant.

So man makes himself an idol. He sets himself up in the place of God; he does all things from himself, and so for himself. Nor indeed can he do otherwise until he puts off himself entirely and denies himself, for a man cannot go beyond himself except by grace, which raises a man above himself. Grace makes him look to some excellence outside himself, and conformity to that excellence and a share in it will make him happy.

Now, so that we may aim at Christ in all things, it is good to call ourselves to account for our aims. The reason we live, and the reason we have, are, or do anything, whether in grace or in nature, is, or should be, not only that we ourselves may be saved, but that Christ may be glorified in all. We need not separate these two, for Christ joins them together. Whoever seeks his own salvation seeks the glory of God, because God will be glorified in saving us.

The end we aim at has a great influence on all our actions. It distinguishes man from the other creatures: though he does the same things a beast does (he eats and drinks and sleeps), he does it all for another end, an end beyond himself, because he is a reasonable creature, whereas the other creatures rest in themselves. In the same way it distinguishes natural men from Christians. They differ in their aims, not in their actions. Both do the same things. One does them for base ends of his own and keeps within the circle of those ends. The other has a light that reveals excellences better than the world can offer, and he has another, spiritual life above; and so he is directed to higher aims in everything, yes, even in his ordinary, civil affairs.

St. Paul gives a rule, that whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we should do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). Though the action is common and ordinary and does not tend directly to the glory of God, like eating, yet our aim in it should be at Christ and at God: that the body, being refreshed by it, may be fit to serve God.

And indeed there is not the most ordinary action of this life in which we may not show that we have a good end, and so glorify God. Therefore Scripture sets down a kind of limit: Obey in the Lord, marry in the Lord; do all things in the Lord, that is, in Christ. It shows that we should do all such things in this way. It implies that, as we must undertake such enterprises with calling on the name of the Lord, so above all we should do them only so far as they agree with the favor and glory of Christ, and no farther.

In subordinate things, the rule is to do them only so far as they help toward the main end. Now the service of everything else is subordinate to the service of Christ, and all other bonds must serve the main bond. So in marriage, or in whatever else, we must do nothing that prejudices the bond of marrying in the Lord: do not marry for wealth or for rank, but in the Lord. All things must be limited in this way, to be done in the Lord, that is, so far as they agree with pleasing the Lord. So we see what it is to live to the Lord, according to his good pleasure and liking.

Now a help to living to the Lord is constant self-denial of our own wisdom, will, and affections in all things. Otherwise we shall live to ourselves, and we shall never attain to living to the Lord.

But you will say, “This is a hard saying.” True. But consider this one thing: we are the greatest enemies of all to ourselves, and we carry within us a cursed hostility to everything divine and supernatural. By nature we are trained up to our own will, and therefore we cannot bear the yoke of Christ without supernatural strength.

Again, divine things perpetually cross the liking of the soul, and so there is an antipathy between us and Christ, and between us and divine things. Therefore self-denial is a necessity. Now knowing this will be a good means of enabling us to do the duty.

Another help to living to Christ is to complain of ourselves to Christ, as Saint Paul does: “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?” (Rom 7:24). We should inform against our own rebellions, confessing that we live too much to the flesh and too little to the Spirit, too much to ourselves and too little to Christ, because of that principle of flesh and blood within us; and we should ask him to subdue everything and bring everything into subjection by his Spirit. This is always a sign of a man led by the Spirit, that it directs him to Christ. As the Spirit comes from Christ and from the Father, so it directs us to Christ, to pleasing the Father and Christ in all things.

Here I might justly take occasion to rebuke a set of people who live under the gospel, who would be saved by Christ, of course, but will not have Christ as a Lord to rule over them. They will be ruled by the rules of politics, or by the rules of flesh and blood and their own lusts, sometimes even by the rules of hell, so long as they can attain their own aims, satisfy their own ambition, and raise themselves to the height they want. That is a cursed disposition, opposed to the religion they profess. For our life should be a living to Christ, and, under Christ, a living to the church and the state.

But they say, “Let us break their bonds, and cast their cords from us” (Ps 2:3). “What! Do they think we will be overawed by a company of poor preachers? Away with them! We will have our own way; let us break their bonds apart.” Christ sits in heaven and laughs them all to scorn (Ps 2:4). They shall learn at last that he will be no Savior where he is no Lord. If he may not rule them by his Spirit and his holy directions while they live, he will not own them when they die.

For you see that the text joins both together here: “he died,” and “he is Lord.” When he died, water and blood came out of his side, to show that he came not only to shed his blood, to die, and to satisfy divine justice, but also by water to cleanse us and to fit us to be subject to his government. Therefore those who take him as a priest to die for them, but will not have him as a Lord, tear his offices apart. I only touch on these things now.

We see what it is to live to Christ. Let us see what it is to die to the Lord.

(1) “To die to the Lord” is to know and acknowledge that Christ has power over us when we die, and therefore to submit ourselves to him, and not to murmur and fret when he comes to call for our life and soul, as if we were unwilling to part with them.

(2) Then again, to die to Christ is, when on any good occasion he calls for our lives in standing for a good cause (for the church or the state), to be ready to lay them down. There is not the least tittle of truth that is not better than a man’s life. A man may be called to die not only in martyrdom, but in the cause of justice and truth; and so he must be willing to die, if he will die to Christ.

(3) Again, we die to the Lord when we so conduct ourselves when death comes that we may express some graces to glorify God, even in our very death. This is when we study to do all the good we can, so that we may die fruitfully, out of this consideration: “My time is short. I will work to sow to the Spirit as much as I can, not to die like a fool, but wisely,” knowing that there is no further opportunity. Here is the time of sowing; hereafter will be the time of reaping.

Therefore every Christian who is master of himself at the hour of death, unless some disease disables him, studies how to show himself as fruitful as he can at that time. You see this in our Savior when he was about to die: what long chapters there are, three together, about his conduct, how he strengthened his disciples, what an excellent prayer he made to God. See how Moses conducted himself at his death, what excellent admonitions he gave; and good Jacob, what an excellent will he made. And Saint Peter, knowing he must put off his earthly tabernacle (2 Pet 1:14), works to put them in mind “to glorify God,” as Saint Paul says (1 Cor 6:20).

A Christian ought to end his days in faith and obedience: in faith that God will take his soul when he commits it to him, and that he shall reign forever in heaven; and in obedience as a result. Because he believes, he dies in faith, and he will die in obedience: “I offer myself to you, because I believe you will care for me when I am gone from here. For you are the Lord of life and death, and you are my Lord when I live and when I am dead.”

Well, as it implies duty, so it implies a gracious effect: that we shall be enabled to do this duty. He is indeed a Lord in himself, and we ought to acknowledge him so; and more than that, if we are his, we shall have the Spirit to cause us to acknowledge him. You have a notable passage to this purpose in 2 Corinthians 5:14: “The love of Christ constrains us, because we thus judge, if one died for all, then we are all dead.” If he died to redeem us from death, for what end did he die? He died for all, so that “they might not live to themselves, but to him that died, and rose again” (2 Cor 5:15). That is exactly what is in the text: we should live to him.

Now this, that we should live to him, is not only an aim of ours, but an effect that he works in us. He died that we might live to him. For he died and rose so that he might obtain the Spirit, and by this Spirit he enables us to live and die to God, as you have it proved at length in Romans 8:9. Those who are Christ’s have the Spirit of Christ, and are led by it.

Beloved, it is part of the new covenant that whatever our duty is, we shall have ability to perform it by the Spirit of Christ. For all the gracious promises of the gospel are not only promises on condition, and so a covenant; the covenant of grace is also a testament and a will (a will is made without conditions; a covenant with conditions). So, as he has made a covenant stating what he would have us do, his testament is that we shall have grace to do it. He will put his Spirit into us and circumcise our hearts. Otherwise, beloved, the covenant of grace would have no more strength than the covenant of nature had in Adam.

Why did Adam fall? He did not have the Spirit to uphold him, nor did he have the promise of the Spirit to keep him from falling. Therefore the covenant of works was frustrated. But now the covenant of grace is this: whatever God requires, he will give his Spirit to enable us to do it, so that the covenant may not be frustrated. If God did not make good our part as well as his own, we would not be saved.

Therefore, now, in the covenant of grace, we may go boldly to God and Christ and plead with him whenever any duty is pressed on us, and whenever we are about to perform any duty and find that we lack strength: “Lord, you know I have no strength of my own; I am a barren wilderness. But you have entered into a covenant of grace with me, and that covenant is now a testament, a free will, that you will give what you require. Lord, in the use of the means that you have ordained, in waiting on you and looking up to you, I ask you to give me strength to submit to you, to live and die to you, and to direct my course as I should.”

This should be the course of a Christian: not to set about things in his own strength, but, when a duty is made known, to look to the promise of grace and of the Spirit, to press them as a suit and plead them before Christ in the use of sanctified means, such as reading, hearing, holy conversation, and the like. And he will enable us to do what is our duty.

Therefore a man may know by this who is truly under Christ’s government. Whoever is actually under Christ’s government and acknowledges him to be his Lord has the ability to live and die to him in some comfortable measure: to deny himself, to go out of himself, to live and to die to the glory of God. The Spirit of God has given him this victory and triumph over his own heart.

Last of all, if this is so, then here see the wonderfully secure state of a Christian. Beloved, as Christ is his Lord in both life and death, and it is his duty to submit himself, so Christ will give him grace to direct his life accordingly. Therefore let us do our duty, attend on the means, and lift up our hearts to God. Let us leave all the rest to God and Christ; let us leave it to Christ to rule us and to enable us to be ruled by him. He is Lord not only over us, but in us by his Spirit.

But the Spirit “breatheth where it listeth” (John 3:8). There must be waiting on God in his ordinances until we find ability for holy duties. Those who have patience enough to honor God and Christ so far as to wait in the use of good means until the good hour comes, until the Spirit comes to subject their spirits to duty, may be sure that God intends good toward them. But some are so impatient that, if they do not find ability to deny themselves, to live to God, and to break off their course of sin, they give up in a kind of base despair. It is just for God to leave them to themselves, so that they will indeed live and die to themselves. That is, they will live without any regard to Christ and die without any regard to Christ at all, as if there were no Christ to care for them.

Now from this branch of holy security, resting on the care and power and lordship that Christ has over us for the time to come, it follows that a Christian may be assured of his salvation and of his perseverance, because Christ is Lord of all. He is Lord of his heart. He is Lord not only of the things outside us, but of our spirits within us, and he will enable us to subject ourselves to him, that neither things present, nor things to come, or anything, shall ever be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ (Rom 8:39). Nothing shall separate us, not only from God’s love to us, but from our love to God.

Beloved, let this encourage us to come under the government of Christ. There is no security or safety except in his government. We are sure of nothing in this world, but we are sure of this: that Christ, if he is our Lord, is our Lord forever, and that nothing in the world shall ever be able to separate us from him.

I will close with this. You see that Christ is ours, whether “we live or die.” He is “Lord of quick and dead.” Let us work to live to him, so that he may rule over us while we live. Otherwise, when we come to die, however much we may desire him to be ours (perhaps out of principles of self-love), it will be to no purpose. While we live, therefore, let us submit to his government, and if we live to him we shall easily die to him. If we do not train ourselves by daily self-denial and by practicing the duties of obedience to live to him, how shall we come to die to him?

Our life may be snatched from us against our wills. We may die with a kind of fretting and indignation that we can live no longer, that we can enjoy our pleasures no longer. But to die meekly and quietly, as to a Lord, submitting ourselves to him who is the Lord of life and death: no one can ever do that who has not lived to the Lord. Therefore I urge you, become acquainted every day with the actions of living to the Lord. Whatever you do toward men, do it as to the Lord, in the Lord’s strength, to please him, and so far as it agrees with his favor, and no further. And especially take advantage of your younger years to root out lusts that will otherwise grow to such a head that, God in his judgment giving you up to yourselves after long rebellion, you will never be able to deny yourselves to live to Christ, and, when death comes, to die to Christ. Therefore let us train ourselves early to deny ourselves in the practice of every holy duty, as to the Lord, so that we may get the upper hand of our flesh in these holy performances, and they may become easy and sweet to us, as indeed the yoke of Christ is once it has been worn a while.

The subjection of Christ is the sweetest subjection in the world. It breeds the greatest peace and joy and love and contentment in the soul, and, what is more than all, a blessed hope for the time to come. The one who in life is trained to holy duties, and has overcome the rebellions of his base flesh, can say with Simeon when he comes to die, “Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace” (Luke 2:29); that is, “You, Lord of life, now that you will have me die, I am even content to die, to resign myself to you.” Who can say so but the one who makes Christ his Lord all his lifetime? Then, when death comes, he is content to yield to him as a Lord.

Otherwise it will be just for Christ to say in the hour of death, as it is in Judges 10:14, “Do you come to me and commend yourselves to me? Go to the lords you have served.” You have served the whims of such a person; you have handed your souls over to such a one; you have given your souls to sin and to men who are instruments of the devil; you have denied your honesty, your faith, your religion. Go to him; go to the gods you have served. They are your lords. I am not your Lord; I was not all your lifetime. Though these speeches are not spoken aloud, their effect will be felt. The soul will conclude, “I have served my own lusts and the whims of others all my lifetime. How can I look for the Lord to take my soul?” Therefore let it be our daily practice to live to the Lord, to keep the chief aim of our life in our eye, and to direct our actions so that they may serve that main end, or else not to do them.

Herein consists the chief happiness of a Christian: whether he lives or dies, he is not his own, but belongs to the one who can dispose of him better than he ever could himself. For if we had the disposing of ourselves, as Adam had, what would become of us? What became of Adam when he was master of himself? He lost himself and everything. The “second Adam” has bought us with his blood and life, to rule us forever. Will he then allow us to be disposed of by ourselves? No. Whether “we live or die, we are his” (Rom 14:8), if we yield ourselves sweetly to his government, in life and in death.

Sermon 3

For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be the Lord both of the dead and of the living (Rom 14:9).

In these words, as you have heard already at length, the apostle labors to settle people’s thoughts and feelings concerning things indifferent, so that they would not be hasty to censure another’s servant, who stands or falls to his own master, as you have it in Romans 14:4.

The reason is that whatever they do, they do to the Lord. “He that regards a day, regards it to the Lord; he that regards not a day, regards it not to the Lord” (Rom 14:6). Some things are of such a nature that the right aim puts a qualification on the actions. A good end cannot make many actions good. But some actions are of such a nature that, although a good end does not altogether justify them, it frees the person from some censure: he does it to God. Some, from some opinion of their own, may abstain from a thing for religious ends, and they are not to be censured. Others again do it, and they are not to be censured either, because they do it to the Lord, that is, out of religious regard.

How does he prove that they do it to the Lord? He proves it more generally in Romans 14:7: “None of us live to ourselves, nor none of us die to ourselves,” which I spoke of before.

Then he proves that we are the Lord’s, because this was the end of Christ’s dying and rising and reviving, “that he might be the Lord both of the dead and of the living.” And if he is the Lord, then we ought to live to this “Lord of the quick and dead.”

We see that Saint Paul here makes use of a general truth, a grand principle: that we are the Lord’s, and therefore live to him and die to him, and do particular actions to him, or refrain from them to him. This shows that we should have our minds informed in sound general truths, which are the ground of all particular practice, as we shall see afterward.

“For to this end Christ both died, rose, and revived…”

The words set forth Christ’s universal government of the dead and of the living, inferred from the end of his death, reviving and rising again. It is a comforting inference from a strong ground.

We have considered the particulars: Christ’s death, rising and reviving.

Christ died as a “second Adam,” as a public person, in whom, as he died, all died. When other men die, particular men die. When Paul was dead, Paul died and that was the end of it; there was only an exemplary good in his death. But there is more than an exemplary good in the death of Christ. Christ died alone and singular in this respect, because in him, as he died, all died who were his, all whom the Father gave him to die for. For these two run parallel: God’s gift and Christ’s death. He did everything by commission, and he would not go beyond his commission. And he died a violent and cursed death, because otherwise he could not have saved us who were under a curse.

So as a “second Adam” he rose, and as a public person. Therefore we see that at the resurrection of Christ many rose. It is likely enough that they died again. It was for a particular dispensation, to show that Christ rose as a public person. And it is not strange to think that, to honor God, they should be content to live a while, when Christ himself, who was God, was content to be man and to be abased to death. That grand mystery makes all other things credible. He rose, therefore, as a public person, to give life to all those he died for.

So he revived. That is more than rising again: it means never again to lay down his life. You have it excellently set down, among other places, in Revelation 1:18: “I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold I live for evermore. Amen.” And he seals it too: “I have the keys of hell and of death,” that is, the dominion of hell and death. For indeed Christ is life itself, and life cannot die. As God he could not die, and therefore he took on himself that nature in which he might die for us. And now, having fulfilled that dispensation, that office, there is a perpetual inflow of life from the fountain of life, his Godhead, to his humanity. So he never dies anymore. Then here follows the scope and end of it all: “That he might be Lord of the dead and of the living.”

The three offices of Christ have this order with regard to their manifestation. First, he was a prophet, to instruct and teach his own people, in his own person and also by his ministry. Then he was a priest, to die for those who are his and to make intercession now forever in heaven. And then he was a king. First a prophet, then a priest, and then a king. He was all of these at once; the very union invested him with them all. But with regard to manifestation, he was first a prophet, to instruct us in the purpose of his coming into the world; then a priest, to do that grand office from which we have the most comfort; and then a king, to rule us.

It could not have been otherwise. For if he had shown himself a King and a Lord in his glory, where would his abasement have been? If they had known him to be the Lord of glory, they would never have crucified him. Only some sparks of his Godhead and lordship and kingdom and royalty over all flesh broke out in his miracles. Yes, even in his greatest abasement there were some sparks, I say. Even when he lay in the manger, kings came to adore him. When he paid tribute, he had it out of a fish by a command, by majesty. When he was on the cross, he converted the good thief. So something broke out of him to show that he was more than an ordinary person, but that was for special ends.

Ordinarily he went on in a course of abasement, and all so that he might perform the great work of redemption. Therefore he held back his glory and kingly office, so that he would not show himself in that relation and office, and so that he might do the office of a priest and die for us. Therefore you have it here in its proper order. Christ died and rose again as the high priest of his church, “that he might be Lord of the dead and of the living.” He was Lord before, but it was not manifest before. Therefore he is said to be manifested as God by the resurrection (Rom 1:4). He was God from eternity, but he was born then: “This day have I begotten thee” (Ps 2:7). That is spoken of the resurrection. So you see here Christ’s offices, the state and condition of his humiliation and of his exaltation, and the use and end of it all, “that he might be Lord of the dead and of the living.”

And if we are at all offended by that abasement, that God should die, look to his rising and reviving and lordship over all, both living and dead. And if we are dazzled by his glory, look back again to God in our flesh, and God in our flesh abased, even to the death of the cross. Oh, beloved, it is a sweet meditation to think that our flesh is now in heaven at the right hand of God. That flesh which was born of the virgin, which was laid in the manger, which went about doing good, which was made a curse for us and humbled to death, and lay under the bondage of death three days: that flesh is now glorious in heaven, and that person is Lord over the living and the dead. It is an excellent book in which to study this. Beloved, study Christ in the state of humiliation and of exaltation.

“That he might be Lord of the dead…”

How is Christ Lord? He is Lord of the dead, those who died before he was born, and of the living, those who have lived since. He is “yesterday,” that is, to those who were before he was; and “today,” that is, when he was on earth; and tomorrow, and “forever the same” (Heb 13:8). Therefore he says, “of the dead and of the living.” Of the dead, that is, with reference to former times, Christ is the “Lamb of God slain from the beginning of the world” (Rev 13:8).

By what title is he Lord? Not by his title as God, beloved, but by a title of conquest, as a redeemer; for he died that he might be Lord. We are a “bloody spouse” to Christ. We are the price of his blood. He died that he might be Lord. He had to win us before he could have us. Thereupon, having died and purchased us, he is now Lord of his church and children by marriage. Before he could marry us he had to be born in our nature, for husband and wife must be of one nature. And since we were in bondage to a contrary king, to Satan, he had to redeem and purchase us out of Satan’s hands. So he is a Lord by conquest. And then he is a Lord in a nearer relation: he is a Lord as a husband. “He is Lord both of the dead and of the living.”

But the point is sweetest in its use. Only know this for a ground: “Christ is Lord of the dead and of the living” as mediator, God-man; not as God, but as God-man, God in our nature. And from this we have various sweet comforts, as for example:

First of all, it shows what we may expect from Christ, what Christ will do for us, and what we ought to return to him in turn. For relations are bonds, especially when they are founded as this relation of Christ’s is, for him to be Lord over us both in life and in death. It is founded on redemption and on our spiritual marriage. Relations are bonds, and therefore they bind on his part, to show what we may expect from him. He is “Lord of the living and of the dead.”

We may expect on his part all that a gracious Lord should do to provide for his church and children. We may expect from him what we can expect from no one else: that he will not only be Lord over us, but that he will make us subject, that he will flow into us by his Holy Spirit. For here is the prerogative of Christ: he is such a head as gives life to dead members. He is such a husband as makes his spouse beautiful. He puts glory on her; no other husband can do it. Moses married a black woman, but he could not change her color, much less her disposition. It is not in the power of any man. A king cannot change his subjects, but Christ is such a King as changes the nature of his subjects. He makes them subject; he takes them out of a contrary kingdom, since they were not born his subjects but are born anew by the Spirit. He provides everything: provision, protection, the changing of our natures, the beginning of a good work. And where this Lord begins a good work, he finishes it to his own day.

For, beloved, know this for a ground: now in the second covenant we are not left, as Adam was, in the hands of our own free will to stand or fall. Now, in the second covenant, which is founded on Christ’s death and satisfaction for us, Christ gives grace. He gives his Holy Spirit to bring us within its compass, and he performs both our part and his own. He makes good his own part, to be a gracious Savior to us; and he performs our part too. Otherwise the second covenant, the covenant of grace, would be frustrated as the first was, if it were left to our freedom.

Therefore this is what we may expect from this lordship of Christ: the performance of the covenant of grace in writing his law in our hearts (Jer 31:33). Other kings give laws and write them on tablets, but they cannot write them on the hearts of their subjects. But he is such a lawgiver as writes his own will on the heart; he teaches the very heart obedience. We are taught by God “to love one another” (1 Thess 4:9). “I will write my law in their bowels, and in their inward parts”; that is, they will not only know what they should do, but they will know the doing, the loving, and the performing of those things. They will be able to do them. So Christ is a Lord over us, not only teaching us what we should do and commanding us with a kind of superiority, “This is your duty, and not this,” but enabling us to do what he commands. He gives us the very doing, the affections and the loving. He teaches our hearts to love. I say we may expect this from him as we use the means and submit to his ordinances, which is a wonderful prerogative for those who will submit to his law.

Again, we may expect advancement from this Lord. He is such a Lord as makes all his subjects kings. The lowliest person who is a subject of Christ, who has the Spirit of Christ, is a king. Now he is a king over that which all others, who are not Christians, are slaves to. They rule over others, but they are in bondage to their own lusts. But the Christian is a spiritual king, a king over hell and death, and over those things that the very greatest of men are afraid of. For who fears death most, and hell most? Those who deserve it most: those who, by reason of their great position, sink deepest in sin and rebellion against God and contract more guilt than other men. That which they are afraid of, a true Christian, as a Christian, triumphs over most of all. He is a king over those things, for every subject of this Prince is a king.

Christ’s manner of government is hidden now. There is more reality in this than can be expressed; therefore do not wonder at it. In a word, Christ as our Lord binds himself to bring us to glory, never to leave us until he has brought us to the place where he himself is. “Father, I will that where I am they be also” (John 17:24). And he purges his church, “that he may make it a glorious church” (Eph 5:27). He takes it on himself not only to die, to redeem us from hell and damnation and to set us in a state of favor with his Father, but to go on in a course of fitting us until he has brought us to the glorious condition he is in. It lies on him to do it. Therefore let us do our duty, as we shall see afterward, and leave to him what belongs to him.

For ourselves, beloved, this is our honor: that we are under such a King, such a Lord, both living and dying. It was the honor of those who lived in Solomon’s time that they were under such a wise king and prince; the queen of Sheba judged it so (1 Kgs 10:8). But what an honor it is to a Christian now that he is under such a blessed prince as Christ! It is a great honor to be the spouse of such a husband, to be the subject of such a King, to be members of such a head. And therefore we should often think of it, to put honorable thoughts into us. I know no better way to keep us from sin and from base courses than to have our thoughts lifted to this high point: to think of the dignity of a Christian, what a condition he is now brought into in Christ, and what he will be brought to before long. This should make him honorable in his own eyes, put him in a holy state, and make him think himself too good to defile his soul or body, which is so dearly bought and so highly advanced. “Shall such a man as I flee?” says Nehemiah (Neh 6:11). Oh, look to that. Shall such a man as I flee? It is the honor of a Christian, beloved, that he is Christ’s, living and dying.

Objection. But you will say, “An honor? It is an honor to be free. The subject is bound. As the heathen writer said, we are not born to slavery, but to honor and liberty. And it is an appetite planted in man to desire freedom above all things.”

Answer. It is true, “we are born in a kingdom,” and to serve Christ is to reign. For where there is an order of higher and lower, it is a privilege to be under something better. The body, being baser than the soul, is better off under the soul, because the soul is more excellent; it has life and wisdom. The body is a loathsome dead thing in itself. The sheep, being a weak, simple, helpless creature, is better off guided by a shepherd, who is of a superior nature and wise to defend it. It is the security and safety of the vine, which is a weak plant in itself, to have support; it is for its good. So for man, who stands in subordination to a higher nature, to God, it is a great honor to be under the government of Christ, God-man, God in our nature. As they could say in the schools, everything has its perfection by being subject to a superior, except the highest of all, which is not subordinate but independent. Whatever is dependent has its perfection by dependence. Therefore it is an honor for us to be under Christ, the greatest honor in the world.

This is especially so if we consider what kind of government Christ’s is. It is a rational government, agreeable to our principles, for he guides us as a prophet. He is not only a king but a prophet to teach us. He does not simply say, “You shall do this.” He does not stand on terms of will. No. He is a prophet to teach us what we should obey. He convinces us, and then so deals with us that we would not want to be under any government but this one. And then, when he rules our will, he does it sweetly. He draws it “with the cords of a man,” as the prophet says (Hos 11:4); that is, by allurements. He brings us to heaven by way of love and enticement. What greater rewards can be imagined than those by which Christ leads us and draws us to subjection? And therefore he works on our will sweetly, persuading us by allurements of that kind.

In a word, he is a king who is also a husband. Would you have a milder government than that of a husband? Though it is not an equality, it comes as near to one as can be. Such a government is Christ’s. As he is a king, so he is a husband. He knows how to bear the weaknesses of his church. He who bids the husband to be gentle with the wife as the “weaker vessel,” does he not practice his own principles? Will he not be gentle with his own spouse as the “weaker vessel,” do you think, he who has promised not “to quench the smoking flax, and break the bruised reed” (Isa 42:3)? Undoubtedly he will. Therefore it is an honor to be under the government of Christ, so reasonably and sweetly does he draw us with the cords of a man. It is the government of a husband, and of a wise husband. I only give you a taste; you may enlarge on these things in your own meditations.

And as it is our honor, so it is our security and safety to be under him. Why? Because when we come sweetly under Christ’s government, we need fear nothing. The one who fears Christ, all things fear him. Since Christ took our nature on himself, the devil himself is afraid of man’s nature. He trembles to think that God has appeared in our nature. Now he is afraid of a Christian, since God has taken this nature.

Then he is such a king that we may be secure under him, as a universal King over all things, so that he may be King over his church. For he has all power in heaven and earth: “All power is given to me in heaven and earth” (Matt 28:18), and all of it for the government of his church. It is our security to be under him who governs all things for the good of the church. He says, “Thou hast given me power over all flesh” (John 17:2). Christ has all power given to him in relation to his church. Therefore he has power over the devil, over hell, and over all wicked men; and all monarchs and every opposing power are subject to him, so that they will serve the church. When they scourge the church, they are only Christ’s rod. They are only instruments of Christ; they only do his work. Therefore it is a great security, and we need fear no one if we are under Christ.

3. Again, to go on: as it is our honor and security, so it is a spring of our duty. Christ is our Lord. He is Lord of all. Therefore it teaches us our duty in every direction: our duty to one another, to those who are not Christians, and to Christ himself.

It teaches us how to carry ourselves in every station. To give a taste of this, the apostle often presses it, that Christ is our Lord and will be our judge.

(1) Therefore, as for others, we ought not to be hasty in judging or censuring them. We ought to love them, because we all have one Lord. This must compel love. “We have all one Lord, one baptism” (Eph 4:5). We are many in our separate persons, but we are all one under this bond, being all under one Lord.

(2) Then again, it teaches us how to carry ourselves toward people of a different mind: we are not to be servants to the whims of men. Christ rules over us, both living and dying; therefore do not be the servants of men. Follow the Scripture’s limitation instead: marry in the Lord, obey in the Lord, walk in the Lord, do all in the Lord. That is, do things so far as they may stand with the will and pleasure of him who is the Lord of lords. For when the authority of any superior gives commands against the will of this Lord, it ceases to bind. When they command anything in subordination to him that may stand with the pleasure of the Lord, then the authority is divine, and we obey Christ in obeying them. So it was when Christ’s own mother commanded things she had no authority to command: he no longer calls her mother, but “woman,” since she was then stretching beyond her bounds (John 2:4).

(3) Again, to go on: since Christ is the Lord of the living and of the dead, this should teach us to count ourselves not our own. It should teach us perfect self-denial in matters of religion. Above all, it should teach us not to be overwhelmed by our own notions in the great mysteries that Saint Paul cries out over: “Oh the depth” (Rom 11:33). You have many who quarrel with those things and would bring them down to reason. They will go no further in religion than they can see reason. Yet one says, “I believe it because it is impossible and too far above reason; therefore I believe it all the more.”

It is often good to stand still before God, as if we were at a loss, and to wonder at him in the mysteries of Christ’s governing of the church. Why does he allow some part of the church, which is perhaps better than other parts, to be exercised with afflictions, while those others are quiet and exempt from the cross? We are not to stumble at this, nor to be overbusy in searching out the reason for it. Christ is our Lord, and he is infinite in wisdom. It is his prerogative to do such things as he is not obliged to give us a reason for. So God “will have mercy upon whom he will have mercy” (Rom 9:18). In great mysteries, remember the sovereignty of this Lord of ours. He is “Lord of quick and dead.” Let this stop our judgments, and teach us to deny ourselves when we cannot give a reason for these things. In holy wonder, let us say with Saint Paul, “Oh the depth.”

And so it is with our will. He is Lord of the living and the dead. We say of a wife that she has no will of her own; and a servant in law is not a distinct person, as it were: he belongs to another. We are Christ’s servants, his subjects and his spouse. When we begin to be Christ’s, we have lost our own wills; we resign them up to Christ. “Your will shall be mine in all things. If you would have me do this, I will do it. If you would have me suffer, I will suffer. If you will honor yourself with my goods and with my life, you shall have them. From you I had this body, this soul, this estate, this reputation. I have whatever I have from you, and it is maintained by you. You are mine, and I am yours; therefore I give it all back to you again.”

That Christ is Lord of the living and of the dead is a ground of perfect resignation. Therefore do not stand on terms with Christ. When he calls for anything, in a case of suffering and sealing the truth, let him have it. It is not lost. We have a better foundation in him than we have in ourselves. When we give anything to him, whether life, or estate, or reputation, or whatever it may be, we have a better life, a better estate and condition in him. For all is more eminently in him, the original fountain, than in what is derived from him and the beams that come from him. When we lose anything, it is only a beam from the sun; whatever we lose in particulars, we have again in the whole, in the fountain, in Christ. Therefore faith would help in all this. In a case of suffering and trial, what is the question? Is the cause good or not? If it is, then I will resign myself and all that I have and am to Christ. He is Lord both of the living and of the dead.

We must know, beloved, that we are redeemed from ourselves. Therefore make this use of it when you are tempted by any sin: Christ is my Lord; I am redeemed from my base lusts. What have I to do with this anger? What have I to do with this ambition? I am no debtor to the flesh. I am under Christ. I am under grace. He has redeemed me from my empty way of life. I owe it nothing but mortification and denial.

Therefore, in all the solicitations of corruption, learn this lesson and draw your arguments from here. Christ has done great things for me. He who is Lord of me living and dying lived and died, and lives forever. There is no greater slave than the one who is a slave to his own flesh and to his own lusts. So when we are stirred to anything by our base nature, we must kill it more and more daily, for it must die, or else we shall never live eternally; and death is the sum and completion of mortification.

When we are stirred to anything, go to Christ and complain to him: Blessed Savior, you died, and rose, and revived, that you might be Lord of the living and of the dead. I beg you, claim your own right in me. Bring all into captivity to your own Spirit. What has this base affection to do with me? What have I to do with it? I am freed from it; I am redeemed from myself. What have I to do with myself but deny it all? I am yours altogether; therefore take your own right in me. Possess me, fill me with your Spirit, be all in all in me. Let pride and ambition and such things have no footing in me.

It is good to pour out the soul to God for that purpose, and to complain to Christ when it is like this with us, because it is his office to rule us. Now, Lord Jesus, do your office. Your office is to be king, to rule in me. Other lords would gladly rule in me. Pride, and lust, and base covetousness would gladly rule, as the prophet says (Isa 26:13); but what have other lords to do with me? You are my Lord, and you have a right to me living and dying.

It is likewise a point of wonderful comfort to us in all afflictions whatever, especially those that concern the state of the church. We are now in evil times, if we look about us. However, God continues to be better to us than we deserve. We are like the three young men in the fiery furnace, untouched while everything around us is in flames. Where is Christ’s rule now, when his poor church is so used and trampled upon in France, in the Palatinate, in Bohemia, and among the Princes of Germany?

Beloved, it is our fault. Perhaps we do not wake Christ as the disciples did. They woke Christ when there was a mighty storm and moved him to rebuke the winds and the waves, and a calm followed. So should we do. Christ loves to be awakened by our prayers. If the church would join forces, one church with another, together they might work wonders. Let us offer a holy violence to Christ by prayer and the use of holy means. He is still Lord of the church. Take things at their worst, as they are, and he is only carrying things to his own ends.

Beloved, if we consider things rightly, it can hardly be otherwise with the church than it is. Consider our former complacency, and dullness, and failure to prize the great things of Christ, the ministry of the word and the sacraments. We live under the gospel in such deadness, and in such sins as a Turk would hardly commit. We are no more affected by it than a Jew or a Turk who does not have the means. Will Christ endure this, that we should come to be careless whether we have the gospel, the blessed truth of God, or not, and grow sinful, and have less conscience than a Turk or a Jew? Will Christ continue his blessed prerogatives and privileges to such people? Therefore, if we only look at the ordinary dispositions of most men, we would think it impossible that judgment should not come. Will there be a reformation of these men without a spirit of fire, without some purging flame?

Then again, Christ is humbling his church in order to advance it, and he lets its enemies triumph for their own further downfall. He is bringing about a blessed work. There is a great wheel turning, but we do not see how things will turn out. The Lord rules, and governs, and moves all this great wheel. You shall see at length what it is driving toward. We see in a clock that there are many wheels, one turning against another, yet all of them help the clock to strike; all join in that. So there is a stroke to come. Something will come out of all these troubles that seem contrary to one another, some up and some down. All these wheels will help to bring out some stroke, some glorious thing that is now in the making, which perhaps posterity may see.

Therefore let no one stumble at it. Christ rules now in the midst of his enemies (Ps 110:2). We must not snatch at pieces of Christ’s workmanship. In a poem we do not judge by a piece; we look to the final turn, to the upshot and close of the whole. Though everything was in turmoil, there we see all things brought to an excellent and wise outcome. Therefore, I beg you, suspend your judgments a while. Then, with a spirit of faith, you shall see all the enemies overthrown, as surely as if we saw it with our bodily eyes. In the meantime, let us persuade ourselves that Christ is about a blessed work, as he is king of our church.

There is one question that the papists raise from texts such as this, which I will clear up briefly, because it may trouble some, though it is of no great importance. It is said here that Christ died, and rose again, and revived, that he might be Lord of the dead and of the living. From this, not only papists but some others raise this question, on which I will shed a little light: whether Christ, by his dying and abasement, merited anything for himself, since it is said here that he did this so that he might be Lord of the dead. He abased himself to the death of the cross. “Therefore God gave him a name above all names” (Phil 2:9).

The papists attack Calvin, who says he did not, and that makes me all the more willing to touch on it. Calvin, being a very holy man, out of his holiness avoided curious questions as much as he could, and so he gives an excellent answer. Whether he did or not, he says, “It is overcurious to search, it is rash to define.” For satisfaction, take these grounds, and all is well.

1. First of all, Christ is perfectly glorious now in heaven, both body and soul. There is no question about that. And he came to this glory, both of body and soul, and to the manifestation of it, after his abasement, by way of his humiliation. First he must die and suffer, and then enter into glory.

2. Again, remember this as a ground: Christ as man did not merit the grace of union or of unction. For how could he merit before he existed? Could Christ merit to be united to the second person, which was the greatest grace that ever was? No. Nor could he merit the grace of unction, the habitual grace in Christ by which the human nature was filled with all grace. It came with the union; the one immediately follows the other. There was no meriting that, because from the beginning of his incarnation it was by the union of his natures.

When these things are considered, other matters are not material. Only, it is best and safest to think that he did not merit anything for himself. For if all glory was due to him by virtue of the union, which he had by grace, and by virtue of the unction, then he would have had it if he had died at once. Indeed, he might have gone to heaven at once without dying, had there not been a dispensation laid upon him to die for us. Therefore, by virtue of the union and unction, which were free, heaven was due to him at once, and all the glory that he had afterward.

Why then was that glory held back? Why was his body, though united to the divine nature, not glorified at once as it now is in heaven, so that he lived in abasement and died a most cursed death? Beloved, all this was for us. Then, after the dispensation was finished for us, after God’s justice was satisfied for us, there was no more stopping or holding back of his glory. Then his divine nature flowed into his human nature, and his human nature became glorious, as glorious as it was capable of being, after what he had done for us.

Therefore it is good to think of the love of Christ, that in his abasement he considered us and not himself. The Scripture runs in that strain: “To us a Son is given, for us a child is born” (Isa 9:6). He died for us. He gave himself for us. He rose for us. He ascended for us. He sits at the right hand of God for us. He himself indeed has glory, but together with us. And therefore, when we think of the glory of Christ, let us think of ourselves in him. When we see him born, think: he was born for me. When we see him die, think that we die with him. When we see him buried, think of ourselves as buried with him. So in his state of exaltation, when we see him rise and sit at the right hand of God, think: he is there to prepare a place for me.

Whatever he has, or whatever he did, he has us in view in all of it. Therefore it somewhat obscures the glory and the love of Christ toward us to imagine that he had his own interest in view in these things, when he says in the text, “For this end Christ died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord of quick and dead.” I beg you, consider whose good he has in view in this lordship. Is it not a profitable lordship for us? Is it not for our good that he is our Lord in life and in death? And he is not only our Lord, but the Lord of Satan, of death, and of all our enemies. He is Lord over all, says the apostle: “God over all, blessed for ever” (Rom 9:5). Therefore he is Lord over sin, over death, over hell, over all that we need to fear. It is for us. Therefore our good is intended. Though there is an overflowing of glory to Christ in all these things, still think that he has our good in view. The best meditation on Christ is to think that all is for us.

Beloved, is it not a great mercy that he should stop the outflow and the beams of the glory that would otherwise have come upon his human nature? That he should be content to be in the form of a servant, and be eclipsed as to the manifestation of his glory, and abase himself to the death of the cross, all for our redemption, when he might have gone to glory another way? But as one of the ancients says well, “If he had gone to heaven another way, he might have come there himself, but he could not have helped us that way. Therefore he would go to heaven by way of abasement and concealment, and the stopping of his glory, so that he might help us and pay the price to God for us and reconcile us.”

I beg you, let us see his love to us in all this. Enough for that question. I would not have mentioned it, except that it has a special use and comfort, and may be an incentive to kindle love to Christ, who had us in view in his birth and life and death, in his resurrection, in his ascension, in his glory, in all.

To draw to a conclusion, then: Christ is our Lord both in life and in death. It is forever. Oh beloved, I beg you, let us therefore plan for his glory forever as much as we can. He is our Lord. When we are dead, he is Lord of our souls and of our happiness; we are nearer to him then than we are now. He who is my Lord both living and dying and forever, shall I not labor that when I am dead there may be a church here? That when I am dead, posterity may serve him and be subject to him? Shall he forever be Lord for my good, and shall I not, as far as lies in me, lay a foundation in his service that will last, so that when I can serve him no longer myself, posterity may serve him?

It was a cursed wish of a pagan emperor: When I am dead, let heaven and earth be mingled together if they will. But a Christian thinks: Christ is mine, and for my good both living and dying. Indeed, I have more good from him when I am dead than when I am alive. Therefore I will labor that he may have glory in his church through me and mine, and all my counsels and plans shall aim that it may be so forever and ever, world without end. Therefore Christians desire that God may be served and glorified in the church forever, since he is their Lord living and dying.

And let it be our comfort in the hour of death (which may be nearer to us than we are aware) that he is Lord not only of the living, but of those who are dead. He has the keys “of hell and death” (Rev 1:18); that is, he has the government of death. Shall I then be afraid to commit my soul to Christ? What a ground this is for yielding our souls to Christ with comfort! Lord, take the soul that you died to purchase, that you rose again to justify, that you now live in heaven to make intercession for, that you have given your Holy Spirit in some measure to sanctify. Take this soul to yourself! It is your soul as much as mine, and more. I am not my own, nor is my soul my own. “Into thy hands I commend even thy spirit; for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord of truth” (Ps 31:5). You have redeemed this soul of mine; therefore now take this soul, which you by your Spirit have brought in some poor measure to desire to please you. Take that soul you have sprinkled with your own blood, for you are Lord both living and dying.

And what a comfort it is, when death shall close our eyes, that we can look forward and see ourselves then nearer to Christ! For then we go to Christ our husband, as Paul says: “I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ, which is best of all” (Phil 1:23). At death a Christian can think: Now I am changing for the better. Christ will not leave me at the hour of death. Neither dying nor living will he leave me, but he will watch over my dust. My dead body is a member of Christ. Death may separate body and soul, but it cannot separate soul or body from him. Therefore I will take no anxious thought for body or soul. As for my soul, I know he will receive it; and my body is laid up in the dust as a good deposit. He watches over all the dust and ashes and everything, and he will make the earth faithful in giving up that deposit. He is Lord of me dying as well as living. Shall I be afraid to die, when in death I commit my soul to such a sweet Lord, and go to my husband and to my king?

And that is the purpose of the sacrament. For the word and sacrament are parts of the government of Christ by which he rules his church. He rules his church outwardly by the word and sacraments, and inwardly by his Spirit. His Holy Spirit makes his own good means effective. Therefore, as the subjects of Christ, I beg you, let us come to the ordinance of Christ. He is a Lord who does great things by despised means: bread and wine, poor means. But consider what a mighty Lord uses them for our souls’ good. It is his glory to magnify himself by lowly and weak means. He goes contrary to the course of the world, which stakes everything on outward excellence. Therefore let no one stumble at the meanness of the means, but consider what great things he works by the foolishness of preaching and by the lowliness of his ordinance, the sacraments. He beats down strongholds. He builds us up in Christ to salvation. He communicates himself and all his benefits to us.

Therefore, I beg you, come with faith. Come with this persuasion: Christ will bless his own ordinance. And come with comfort. Christ communicates himself to us, and the nearer we come to the fountain, the more we draw. And come with preparation; know with whom we have to deal, with him who is “Lord of quick and dead.” Come with reverence. But I have often dwelt on these things on such occasions. So much for this text.

O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name; and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man (Neh 1:11).

In the ninth verse the holy man reminds God of the promise he made to his people, that if they would turn unto him, and keep his commandments, and do them, though they were cast out to the utmost parts of heaven, yet he would gather them thence (Neh 1:9). I will touch a little on these two verses, and then come to what I mean to dwell on from the words read.

“If you turn unto me, and keep my commandments.” There is no promise of mercy except to those who turn. The Scripture is peremptory in denying mercy to those who go on in their sins. Heaven could not endure even the angels themselves once they had sinned; and neither this kind of sinner nor that “shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Yet how many there are who assure themselves that all will go well with them, though they cast off all God’s yokes and divine bonds that might bend them to better courses, as if words were only wind, even when we see here that God made his word good against his own dear people: “If ye sin, I will scatter you to the farthest parts of the world” (Neh 1:8).

We see in the verse before (Neh 1:7) that a proud, presumptuous, sinful disposition may slight God, and the messengers of the word and all, now while we come only to threaten. But when God comes to execute, will such a person shake it off then? Will swearers and blasphemers and filthy persons shake off the execution as they can shake off the threatenings? God says that none who are such shall enter into heaven, but his wrath shall smoke against them, and shall be as a fire that shall burn to hell, against such persons as “bless themselves” in wicked courses (Deut 29:20). And when God comes to the execution, they desire the mountains to fall upon them (Rev 6:16).

There are none more presumptuous against the threatenings, and none more base and fearful when it comes to execution. We see this in presumptuous and profane Belshazzar. He was drinking from the bowls of the temple, and scorning religion and God, when a handwriting appeared on the wall, and “his knees knock together and his joints tremble” (Dan 5:6). So let there be any sign of execution, and we see that all the tyrants in the book of God, and those in the world, who have trifled with religion, are of all men the most disconsolate and fearful, as we see in Belshazzar and others.

I beg you, therefore, take heed. God will seal all his threatenings with executions in due time, as he did to his own people. What reason do we have to promise ourselves more immunity than they had?

“If ye turn and keep my commandments, and do them.” Here are three conditions. “Though you were cast to the utmost parts of the world, I will gather you thence.”

“If you turn.” The holy man Nehemiah puts God in mind of his promise, and his argument is from the like case, and indeed from the lesser to the greater. For of the two, God would rather perform his promises than his threatenings, because mercy is his own proper work. Now, as he had been just in punishing his people, so he would be merciful in restoring them again. Therefore he says, “Return and keep my commandments and do them, and though ye were scattered to the utmost parts of the earth, yet I will gather you thence.” And he did gather them from there upon their repentance; he performed his promise at length.

Beloved, the full accomplishment of this still remains. For this people to this day, since the death of Christ, since they drew the guilt of that sacred blood on themselves, are scattered about the earth to every nation. They do not have a foot of land of their own, but are the scorn and hissing of the nations. Notwithstanding, this promise will be performed. Upon their repentance, God will bring them back again. As St. Paul calls the conversion of the Jews a kind of resurrection, so this is true of us all. Though we were scattered as dust, as we shall be turned to dust in the grave before long, God will gather the ashes; he will gather all those parts of ours. Even as his power gathers his people together, so his power will at length gather us all. We have his promise for the one as well as for the other.

Therefore let the performance of this promise comfort us concerning the performance of the grand promise of the resurrection. Indeed, the grand promise of the resurrection is the ground of the performance of all other promises. You have it in Ezekiel, concerning the dry bones. God says, I will clothe these dead bones with flesh and skin, therefore I will restore you again (Ezek 37:1 and following). God, who will restore our dust and bring together our bodies that were scattered here and there, will restore us out of our sickness and trouble, if it stands with his glory and our good.

Now, after the argument he uses to persuade God from his word of threatening and promise, he comes to the argument from their relation.

“These are thy servants” (Neh 1:10). Though sinful servants, yet they are your servants. “These are thy people.” You have no other people in the world but these, and you are their God. He pleads from former favors: “Thou hast redeemed them by thy great power and strong hand.”

It is a good argument to plead former favors with God, because “there is no shadow of change in him” (Jas 1:17). He is always like himself; he is never drawn dry. And it is a great honor to go to him for new favors on the strength of former ones, because he has an infinite supply. We may draw so much from men that they have nothing left afterward to make good with. But we cannot honor God more than by going to him with a large faith, to fetch large favors from him. The more he gives, the more he can give, and the more he is willing to give. “To him that hath shall be given” (Matt 13:12). We cannot honor God more than by going to him on the ground of former favors and with enlarged desires: “Thou hast redeemed us, and been gracious to us before” (Ps 107:2).

We may with much more reason take this argument in our mouths and press the majesty of God with it: You have redeemed us, not out of Egypt or Babylon, the land of the north, but with the blood of your Son, from hell and damnation; and therefore you can redeem us from this lesser misery, from these enemies. We may plead that grand favor for all other lesser redemptions, whatever they are.

He has given us Christ; he “hath not spared his own Son, but gave him to death for us all, how shall he not with him give us all things else?” (Rom 8:32). He has been so large and bountiful as to give us his own Son, that gift to be wondered at: “So God loved the world” (John 3:16). How then can we not plead with him for all other favors whatsoever, whether they concern the life of grace or of glory, or our present condition while we live in this world? We may plead it much more, I say: You have redeemed us. But I will not press these things further now.

In the eleventh verse he comes to press it still, and repeats what he had said before: “Lord, I beseech thee, let thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and of thy servants that desire to fear thy name.”

“Let thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servants.” It is a prayer, and you are a God hearing prayer. They are your servants, and you regard your servants. There are only a few petitions in this large request: “remember,” “be attentive,” and “give me favor.” Most of the prayer is spent in preparation: in considering the attributes of God, in confession, and in strong reasons from the word, from its promises and threatenings, and from their relation. And then he makes good the relation: “We are thy servants, because we desire to fear thy name.”

This shows, indeed, that it is an excellent skill and art in prayer to have strong arguments.

Then the suit comes off easily, as in Psalm 90. It is a prayer of Moses, the man of God, and yet the least part of the psalm is prayer: “Teach us to number our days” (Ps 90:12). That is the whole petition. Though the petition is short, yet it is effective when the heart has been warmed and strengthened with strong reasons beforehand. When the heart is lifted up and raised by considering the majesty and the truth of God, and when the heart is strengthened with strong, convincing reasons that God will hear when we press him with his word, when the heart is thus raised and warmed, I say, all the petitions come off easily.

Therefore, beloved, it is an excellent thing to study the Scriptures, and to study all the arguments by which holy men have prevailed with God in Scripture, and to see in what case those arguments were used. They have use and force to prevail with God.

It is a pitiful thing now for Christians, under the glorious light of the gospel, to come to God only with bare, naked petitions (if they come from a true heart, they have their force, so that God will regard them), and not to have reasons to press God with out of his own word. They cannot bind God with his own promise, nor with arguments he has been bound with before. Let a child only cry to its father or mother, and relief comes at once for the very cry. But if it is not a child, but one of grown years, the father looks for moving arguments to press him with. So here Nehemiah presses God with moving and strong arguments, and he repeats and enforces them. He does not only allege them, but enforces them: “O Lord, I beseech thee, let thine ear be attent to the prayer of thy servant, and of thy servants that desire to fear thy name.”

He desires God to be “attentive.” He presses God; and indeed he does it to warm his own heart. For when we have humbled our heart low enough, and broken it with the consideration of our own unworthiness, and then warmed it with the consideration of God’s goodness, and strengthened it with the consideration of God’s promise and truth, then we are sure of a gracious success.

“Let thine ear be attent to the prayer of thy servant, and of thy servants.”

How did they know that they were yours?

Because there was no other people in the world that knew God but they. And he knew that the saints, wherever they were, had a spirit of prayer and would remember the case of the church. Therefore he says, remember “my prayer and the prayer of thy servants.” For if “the prayer of one righteous man prevaileth much” (Jas 5:16), much more the prayer of many. If there had been only ten righteous people in Sodom, Sodom would have been preserved. Now he pleads this to God: “remember the prayer of thy servant,” that is, my prayer, “and the prayer of thy servants.”

As Tertullian, an ancient father, says very well, “When men join together, they offer a holy kind of violence to God.” Prayer is a kind of wrestling and contending with God, a striving with him. “Let me alone,” says God to Moses (Exod 32:10). Prayer binds him with arguments and promises of his own, and it is so forceful that he desires, as it were, to be let alone. Now, if the prayer of one is a wrestling and striving and forcing of him, as it were, against his will, so that he said, “Let me alone,” as if he could do nothing unless Moses gave up praying, what are the prayers of many, when there is a multitude of them?

Therefore we may look for a comforting outcome to our prayers and humiliation performed at this time. The desires of so many Christian souls, touched by the Spirit of God and by the case of the church, which God cares for, cannot be ineffective. They must draw down plenty of blessings from heaven. I will not enter into the general topic of prayer, having spoken of it on another occasion. But surely you see that the holy man Nehemiah set so much store by it that he hoped to succeed because he and others prayed, as holy Daniel did, and others with him. Prayer was such a gracious messenger to send to heaven for help and for all good that Daniel would not omit it to save his life, though it might cost him his life by his being cast into the lions’ den.

Take away prayer, and you take away the life and breath of the soul. Take away breath, and the man dies. As soon as the soul of a Christian begins to live, he prays. As soon as Paul was converted, “Behold, he prayeth” (Acts 9:11). A child cries as soon as it is born; and a Christian will not lose his prayer for his life, as we see in holy Daniel. For what comfort does he have except what is derived from God? And God will be sought by petition for all the favors he bestows. Whatever comes from his favor comes, for the most part, as a fruit of prayer. Though he often goes beyond our desires, yet ordinarily, whatever we have, if we are his children, we have as a fruit of prayer. Therefore, I beg you, let us be stirred up to this duty, as we see Nehemiah here: “Remember the prayer of thy servant.”

And when we pray to God, let us press him, as we see here: “Be attentive” (Neh 1:6), and here again, “be attentive.” He presses God. It is no sinful repetition to come again and again. God loves to hear the same song again and again. This music is not tedious to him, but pleasing. And this pressing is for us, to warm our hearts. Perhaps one petition will not warm them; and when they are warmed by a second, let us labor to warm them more and more, and never give up until we have thoroughly warmed our hearts. “Be attentive, be attentive to my prayer”; and if mine will not prevail, be attentive to the prayers of others; let the prayers of all prevail: “the prayer of thy servant, and of thy servants.”

But how does he make good the claim that they are your servants?

“They desire to fear thy name.”

Empty relations have no comfort in them: to profess oneself a servant, and not to make it good that one is a servant. We must make good the relation we stand in toward God before we can claim an interest in the favor of God by that relation. Servants, Christians, professors of religion: these are glorious titles. But if they are empty titles, if we cannot make them good when we come to God with them, then we cannot say we have any interest in God from empty titles. Rather, they are an aggravation of our sin.

God will be honored in all those who come near him, either in their obedience or in their confusion. Therefore the holy man here did not think it enough to say, “Thy servant, and thy servants,” but “who desire to fear thy name.”

He sets out to make it good that he was the servant of God, not from any outward thing, but from his inward disposition, “the fear of God,” which I will not stand to speak of at length now. God requires the heart; and religion consists most in managing and tuning the affections, for they are the wind that carries the soul to every duty. Without affections, a man is like the dead sea. Religion lies most in them. The devil has brains enough; he knows enough, more than any of us all. But then he hates God. He has no love for God, nor any fear of God, except a slavish fear. He does not have this reverential, childlike fear.

Therefore let us make it good that we are the servants of God, especially by our affections, and chiefly by this affection of fear, which is put for the whole worship of God. It is put in place of those conditions spoken of in verse 9: “If you turn to me, and keep my commandments, and do them,” then I will make good my promise. Now, taking up the same strength of argument, he says, “We desire to fear thy name,” as if he had said, “We turn to you, and obey your commandments, and desire to do them.” It is all one. “We desire to fear thy name,” for those who fear God will turn to him; and to desire to obey his commandments and to do them is as good as doing them. If a man should do them, and not from the fear of God, it would all be nothing but a carcass of obedience. I will not dwell longer on that.

How does he make it good that he feared the name of God?

He makes it good from this, that he had good desires: “We desire to fear thy name.” We desire it for the present and for the time to come. From this we will observe two or three things briefly, as may be useful to us. First of all, from the fact that this desire to fear the name of God is brought as an argument to prevail in prayer, we may observe that those who will prevail with God in prayer must look to the bent of their souls for the time to come and for the present.

“Regard thy servants that desire to fear thy name.” For to come to God without such a frame of soul as this, a desire to please God in all things, for the present and for the time to come, is to come as God’s enemy; and will God regard his enemies? When someone comes with a purpose to live in any sin, without a desire to regard all God’s commandments for the time to come, he comes as God’s enemy. He comes, as it were, with his pistol to shoot at God; he comes with his weapon. Who will regard the petition of a man who comes to wound him at the same time? When a man comes to God with a purpose to sin, he comes to wound God at the same time, as an enemy; and is he likely to succeed? For what are our sins but the very thing that makes us enemies to God? They are as opposite to him as can be; they make us hateful to God. Therefore, when we come to God, we must be able to say with good Nehemiah, to make it good that we are servants indeed, “We desire to fear thy name.”

As Jeremiah tells them, “Will you steal, and oppress, and commit adultery, and yet stand before me?” (Jer 7:10). Will you commit this villainy and that, and still stand before me? “What hast thou to do,” says God, “to take my name into thy mouth, and hatest to be reformed?” (Ps 50:16 and following). If we hate to be reformed, and do not desire to serve God for the time to come, what business do we have taking his name into our mouths, especially in the holy exercise of prayer? “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear my prayer” (Ps 66:18). If a man only intends to live in iniquity for the time to come, the Lord will not hear his prayer. Therefore, if we would prevail with God in our petitions, we must say with holy Nehemiah, “We desire for the time to come to fear thy name.” I beg you, let us remember it.

And then, to pass over other things, from “We desire to fear thy name” we see that religion lies especially in holy desires.

The greatest part of Christianity is to desire with all one’s heart to be a sound Christian. Religion is more in the affections of the soul than in its effects and operations. It is more in the resolutions and purposes of the soul than in any effects we can yield to God. There is much desire in all our performances. Therefore the holy man says here, “We desire to fear thy holy name.”

Why are desires such tests of the truth of grace?

Because they are the immediate products of the soul. Desires and thoughts and the like are produced immediately by the soul, without any help from the body and without any outward expression. They show the temper and frame of the soul. For this reason God judges a man by his desires; and what he desires, if it is a true desire, he shall have and be partaker of. The godly man desires to serve God all the days of his life, and he shall do it forever. A wicked man would desire to go on offending God if he could live forever. God looks upon him according to his desire. He shall not always sin here; but because he has an infinite desire for sin, he shall be punished in hell eternally. God looks upon him according to what he desires. God values men by their desires.

But how is the truth of these desires known? I will name a few signs. The truth of these desires may be tested in this way:

1. If they are constant desires and not flashes; for then they come from a new nature. Nature is strong and firm. Artifice is put on for a moment, to serve the moment. When people act a part, they do not keep it up for long. Creatures that are forced to behave in some way soon return to their own nature; but when someone does a thing naturally, he does it constantly. So constant desires prove a sanctified frame of soul and a new creature. They show that the image of God is stamped on the soul. By this we may know that they are holy desires, springing from a holy soul, if they are constant: if they are lasting desires, and not like a torrent that bursts out suddenly for the moment and then comes to nothing afterward. They are constant.

2. And likewise, if these desires are hearty, strong desires; and not only strong, but growing desires: desire upon desire, desire fed with desire continually, never satisfied until they are satisfied. Strong and growing desires show the truth of our desires. Indeed, a child of God never has grace enough, never faith enough, never love enough or comfort enough, until he comes to heaven. They are growing desires, more and more. The Spirit of God, the spring within him, springs up ever further and further, until it springs up to everlasting life, until it ends in heaven, where all desires will be accomplished, all promises performed, and all imperfections removed. Until then they are always growing desires. “We desire to fear thy name,” and to please you in all things.

3. Again, true desires are not only for the favor of God, but for graces that alter our nature. So Nehemiah here does not desire God’s favor so much as he desires to fear God’s name. Now when the desire is for graces, it is a holy desire. There is no one so wicked that he would not desire, with Balaam, “to die the death of the righteous” (Num 23:10), so that he might enjoy the portion of God’s people. But to desire grace, which is as opposite to corrupt nature as fire is to water, is proof of a holy principle of grace in us from which this desire springs. For then we desire what is a counterpoison to corrupt nature, something that has an antipathy to corruption. So it is when someone can desire from the bottom of his heart, “Oh, that I could serve God better! That I had more liberty to serve him! That I had a heart more enlarged, more mortified, more weaned from the world! Oh, that I could fear God more!” And of all graces, if it is a true desire, it is for such graces as may curb us in our sinful delights, restrain us from our carnal liberty, knit us near to God, and make us more heavenly-minded. The desire for these graces shows a true temper of soul indeed.

4. True desire is carried to grace as well as to glory, even in the desire for heaven itself. A true spirit that has been touched with grace, with the Spirit of God, does not desire heaven itself so much for its glory and peace and abundance of every contentment. It desires heaven because it is a place where it will be freed from sin, where the heart will be enlarged to love God, to serve God, and to cleave to God forever; and because it is a condition in which the believer will have the image and likeness of Jesus Christ perfectly upon his soul. Therefore we pray, “Thy kingdom come”; that is, we desire that you would rule more and more largely in our souls, subdue every opposing power in us, and bring into captivity all our desires and affections. Let “Thy kingdom come” more and more. Let “thy will be done” by us, and in us more and more, “in earth as it is in heaven.” Here is a sweet prayer that serves the first petition, the hallowing of God’s name: we desire more to honor God, and to that end, that he may rule in us more and make us better. These desires show an excellent frame of soul, as we see in Nehemiah: “our desire is to fear thy name.”

5. True desires are likewise for the means of salvation, and for the means of salvation as they convey grace, as sincere milk; as you have it in 1 Peter 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word.” Where someone has holy desires for any grace, and has them in truth, he will desire the means by which those graces may most effectually be worked in his heart. Therefore he will hear the word as the word of God. He does not come to hear the word because of the eloquence of the man who delivers it, who mingles it with his own gifts. He does not come to hear it as the tongue of man; he sees God in it. It is the powerful word of God, because the effectual working of the Spirit goes with it to work the graces he desires.

Therefore a person may know by his taste for divine truth whether he desires grace. He who desires grace desires the means that may convey grace, and especially insofar as they convey grace: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word.” You cannot quiet a child with anything but milk. He wants no blending or mixing, only milk. So a true Christian desires divine truths most of all, because the Spirit of God works effectually by them to produce grace and comfort in him. I will not enlarge on the point.

Use. The comforting observation from this is that weak Christians who find weakness, faintness and feebleness in their performances may comfort themselves by their desire to fear God, to worship God, and to serve him, if their desires are true. So in Isaiah 26:8 the church pleads it before God: “In the way of thy judgments have we sought thee.” “The desire of our souls is towards thy name.” They bring it to God as a prevailing argument. So when we come to God: “The desire of our souls is toward thy name.” Lord, our endeavors are weak and feeble, but “the desire of our souls is to thy name,” and “thou wilt not quench the smoking flax” (Matt 12:20). Therefore we come to you with these weak and poor desires that we have. “The Lord will fulfill the desires of them that fear him” (Ps 145:19), even if they are only desires, so long as they are true, growing and constant desires, and desires for grace as well as for happiness, as I showed before.

The reason God accepts them is partly that they spring from his own Spirit. These desires are the breathings of the Spirit. In places where fountains and springs lie waiting to be dug up, they are known and discovered by vapors; the vapors show that there is some water there, some spring, if it were dug up. Even so, these desires, these breathings to God for grace and comfort, these spiritual breathings, show that there is a spring within and the Spirit within, from which these vapors and desires come. Therefore God accepts them, because they spring from his own Spirit.

It is also because they point heavenward, and show that a person is turned. For desire is put here in place of turning: “Turn ye to me, saith the Lord” (Neh 1:9); and here, in place of turning, he answers, “My desire is to fear thy name.” For when the desire is altered, the frame of the soul is altered; a person is turned another way. Desire is the weight of the soul. What carries the soul but desire? Now when the soul is carried another way than before, it proves that its frame has been altered. Therefore it pleases God to accept them.

I urge you, let us often enter into our own souls and examine what our desires are, which way the bent of our souls goes, and which cause we would have flourish and prevail in the world, Christ’s or antichrist’s. For God values us by the frame of our desires. “Who desire to fear thy name.”

“And prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day.”

Now he comes to his petition, “Prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day.” He does not bargain with God much over particular matters, for he knew he had to deal with an all-wise God; instead he commends his petition in general terms: “Prosper, I pray thee, thy servant.” He was to attend the king, and in his attendance he was to keep in mind the state of the church, for the rebuilding of the walls and gates of Jerusalem. Now he says in general, “Prosper thy servant.” He leaves it to God how and in what manner, since he has to deal, as I said, with an infinitely wise God. He only prays in general, “Prosper thy servant this day.”

He comes again with his relation of “servant,” to teach us always, when we come to God, to consider in what relation we stand to him: whether we are true servants or not, what work we do for him, with what reference we do what we do, and whether we do it to please him as servants or not. I said something about the relation of servant before. I will add a little here, because he repeats it four or five times in this short prayer.

In all our services we should look to God, for the aim of our works shows what they are, whether they come from servants or not. It is the stamp on a coin that makes it current, if there is a good stamp on it; it is not the metal that makes it current. A stamp on silver makes it current as well as gold, though gold is the better metal. So when things are done because God commands them, to please God, as a service to him, this shows that we are servants indeed and that the relation is good.

When we go about the service of the church or country, or of the place we live in, and think, “I am doing God service here,” and do it as a service to God, who will be honored and served in our service to others, in this I am a good servant. Though the matter of my service is common, lowly and mean, yet it has a stamp upon it: it is God’s will. God has placed and planted me here, and he will be served by me in this condition at this time, though the matter of it is an ordinary thing. I know it may help the good of the church. It has reference to the will of God and the good of the church. So if we do what we do with an eye to God in the place where he has set us, doing it as to him, we are God’s servants, whatever the work is.

And let us often remember to think of it and to bring it into our prayers. “Master,” they said when they were about to be drowned, “dost thou not care that we perish?” (Mark 4:38). They put him in mind of the relation in which they stood to him. So when we can put God in mind of our relation (“Father, we are your children”; “Lord, we are your servants”), it will strengthen our faith and our hope of all good. Will a master let his servant come to harm in his service? Surely God will never turn away true-hearted servants who have served him a long time. It puts us in mind of our duty and serves to strengthen our faith; for as it is a word of service on our part, so it is a word promising all good from God. Does he expect masters to be good to their servants because they have a Master in heaven? And will not the great Master of heaven be good to his servants? You see how Nehemiah keeps to the relation.

“Prosper thy servant this day.”

What is included in this word “prosper”? It includes not only success, which is the main outcome of all, but everything that tends to good success. “Prosper thy servant this day”; that is, direct your servant this day how to act and how to carry himself. And likewise assist your servant. When you direct him, assist him by your strength; direct him by your wisdom, prosper him with your grace, give him good success in all. It includes direction, assistance and good success. In saying, “prosper thy servant,” he implies these things.

1. First of all, that in ourselves there is neither direction, nor wisdom, nor ability enough for success. We have no power in ourselves to bring things to a happy outcome. So it calls for self-denial, which is a good disposition when we come to God in prayer.

2. And then again, to attribute everything to God: wisdom, strength, goodness and all. Here is a giving to God the glory of all, when he says, “Prosper thy servant this day.”

3. Then, here is a dependence on God. It does not only acknowledge these things to be in God; it implies dependence on God for them. “Prosper me, Lord.” I cannot prosper myself, and you who are the Creator have wisdom and strength and goodness enough. Therefore I depend on you: on your wisdom for direction and on your strength for assistance. I depend on your goodness and on everything in you for a blessed outcome. Here is dependence.

4. Again, here is a commending of everything to God by prayer: a commending of his inward dependence on God for all. Now, Lord, “prosper thy servant.”

So when we come to God for any prosperity and good success, let us remember to bring self-denial and an acknowledgment that all excellence is in God to guide, direct, assist and bless us. And let us remember to depend on him, to cast ourselves on him, and to bring our souls to cling to the strong, wise and gracious God, so that God and our souls may be joined together. And then let us commend all by prayer, to cast ourselves and our affairs, and to roll ourselves, as the Scripture says, and everything else upon God (Ps 55:22). Then we will do as the holy man Nehemiah did here; we will desire to good purpose that God would “prosper us.”

Indeed, “it is not in man to guide and direct his own way” (Jer 10:23). We are dark creatures, and we do not have wisdom enough. And we are weak creatures; we have no strength. We are nothing in our own strength. And as for success, alas, a thousand things may hinder us from it. For success is nothing but the bringing of all things to a fitting outcome, foreseeing everything that may hinder and removing it. Now who can do this but God?

One main circumstance that besieges and surrounds a business may hinder an excellent undertaking. Who can see all the things that surround a business, all the circumstances that stand about it? Who can see all the circumstances of time and place and persons that are hindrances or helps? It must be an infinite wisdom that foresees them; man cannot see them. And when people do see them, do not sudden passions rise up in them that rob them of the use of their knowledge? Though they knew these things beforehand, some sudden passion of fear or anger may hinder a person’s knowledge, so that he is in a mist when he comes to particulars. When he comes to apply the knowledge he had before, he does not know what to do. So unless God, who is infinitely wise and powerful to remove all hindrances, gives success in a particular business, there will be no success.

The frame of the body stands upon many joints, and if any of them is out of order, the whole body is sick. In a clock all the wheels must be kept clean and in order. So it is in the frame of a business. All the wheels must be set going; if one is hindered, everything comes to a stop. It is so with us in the affairs of this world. When we deal with kings and states, if all the wheels are not kept as they should be, there will be no success or prosperity. Nehemiah knew this well enough; therefore he prays, “You prosper me.”

He did not mean to be idle when he said, “You prosper me,” for afterward he joined his own diligence to it and waited. Therefore join that as well. If we want our prayers to God and our dependence on him to be effectual for prosperity and success, let us be careful to use the means as he did. He stood before the king and watched how he carried himself, to see what words would come from the king, and then he intended afterward to put into action whatever God should reveal.

Use. It should teach us to make this use of it: when we deal in any matter, to go to God to prosper it, and to give success, direction, assistance and a blessed outcome. For God, so that we may always depend on him, keeps one part in heaven still. When he gives us every likelihood of things on earth, he still reserves the blessing until the thing is done. Until the business is brought to completion, he keeps some part in heaven. Because he wants us to make our suit to him and be indebted to him, he will have us go up to heaven. Therefore, when we have daily bread, we must pray for daily bread, because the blessing comes from him. Otherwise our bread may choke us. We may die with it in our mouths, as the Israelites did. Even when we have things, we must depend on him for a blessing; otherwise everything is to no purpose.

Let us learn from this a direction for piety and holy walking with God: in all things, to pray to God for a blessing. And to that end we must be in such a condition of spirit that we may desire God to prosper us; that is, we must not be under the guilt of sin when we come to God to prosper us. And we must be humble. God will not prosper a business until we are humble. So it was in the case of the Benjamites: when they came, they were denied the first, second and third time. Until they prayed and fasted and were thoroughly humbled, their suit was denied (Judg 20:26 and following). However good the cause may be, God will not prosper it until we are humbled, because we are not in a fit frame for the blessing; if we had it, we would be proud. In mercy and care that look ahead, God will grant nothing until we are humbled.

Therefore let us see that we are humble, and see that the matter is good in which we beg God to bless and prosper us; otherwise we make a horrible idol of God. We make (be it spoken with reverence) a devil of God. Do we think that God will give strength to an evil business? This is to make him an agent for mischief, for the devil’s work. We must not come before God with such “strange fire,” to turn God into the contrary of what he is. We must come with humble affections, with souls repentant for our former sins. And let the thing itself be good, so that we may come without tempting him; let the cause be such that we may desire God’s assistance without tempting him, as we do when it is good and when we come rightly disposed. Then come with a purpose to devote all to his service: “Lord, if you will bless me in this business, I will devote the strength and encouragement I gain by it to your further service. Let me have this token of love from you, that I have a good aim in all, and then I am sure to fare well.”

“Prosper now thy servant.”

It is an excellent point, if I had time to dwell on it. I beg you, let it make some impression on your hearts.

What is the reason God blasts and brings to nothing so many excellent endeavors and projects? People set about the business of God and of their callings in confidence of their own wisdom and pride in their own abilities. They carry things on in the pride and strength of their gifts. They come to a business as if they were gods, as if they had no dependence on him for wisdom, or direction, or strength. They carry things on in a carnal manner, a merely human manner, with human spirits. Therefore they find either no success at all or no good success. Let us therefore commend everything to God: “Prosper thy servant.” Before holy Nehemiah went about the business, he sowed prayers in God’s bosom and watered the seed with mourning; as this chapter says, he mourned and prayed. When this business was sown with prayers and watered with tears, how could he help but hope for good success! He mourned and prayed to God, “Hear thy servant.”

Now when we deal with things in a holy manner, we may trust God without tempting him. What is undertaken in carnal confidence and pride ends in shame. When people think to manage things by cleverness, yes, and by faction and human passions, God will not be glorified that way. God will be glorified by humble, dependent creatures who, when they have done the business, will ascribe it all to him: “Not unto us, but to thy name give the praise” (Ps 115:1). The direction, the assistance and the blessing were yours, Lord. God says toward the end of Isaiah 50, “Go to now, ye that kindle a fire, walk in the light of your own fire: but be sure you shall end in sorrow” (Isa 50:11). You will kindle a fire of your own devising and walk in the light of your own fire. You will have projects of your own and choose for yourselves. But be sure of this: you will lie down in darkness and discomfort; you will lie down in sorrow.

A proud, unbroken heart counts these as poor courses. “It is only weak and poor spirits who pray and fast, and humble themselves before God, and fear God. Alas, what are these? These are weak courses. I hope we have stronger abilities and means to carry things through.” So they carry a kingdom around in their heads. And what becomes of these vain people when God at length shows all their courses to be vain, to be wind, and to come to nothing? “Prosper now thy servant,” he says.

Let us learn this lesson too. If we come to God about a particular business that we are not so sure is pleasing to him, still let us submit ourselves to him in general: “Lord, prosper thy servant.” Go before your servant; let me deal in nothing against your will; direct me to what is for your glory. And let us not prescribe to God or limit him. “Prosper thy servant this day.”

“And grant him mercy in the sight of this man” (Neh 1:11).

He comes more particularly to this request: “Grant me mercy in the sight of this man.” We see that a king is a great organ or instrument to convey good things from God, the King of kings, to men.

Therefore he prays that God would give him favor in the king’s sight. For a king is the first wheel that moves all the other wheels. He is, as it were, the sun of the commonwealth, or the first mover that moves all the lower orbs. Therefore, in heavenly wisdom, Nehemiah asks God to give him favor with the king; for if he had that, the king could turn all the lower orbs as he pleased. Indeed, it would be a point worth enlarging on, but it is not so fitting at this time, since the time is already spent. You see what great good God conveys through kings and princes. When God means to do good to a church or a state, he raises up “nursing fathers and nursing mothers” (Isa 49:23). He will raise up both kings and subordinate Nehemiahs, excellent men, when he has excellent things to do.

But the main thing intended here, which I will only touch on, is this. Rulers stand in such subordination to God as to be instruments conveying as much good or as much harm as they can. As is said of Jeroboam, they either cause others to sin or cause them to worship God. Considering this, we should do as good Nehemiah did: he prays that he might find favor in the king’s sight.

A wise and holy prayer! He begins at the head; he goes to the spring of all good. Prayer is the messenger or ambassador of the soul. Being the soul’s ambassador, it goes to the highest, to the King of kings first, to the Lord of lords first. It goes to the highest mover of all, and then asks him to move the next immediate subordinate mover, that is, the king, so that the king may move the other orbs under him, and things may be carried by a gracious, sweet course to a blessed outcome. Therefore the observation from this is: when we have to do anything with great men, with kings and the like, in any case begin with the King of kings, and do everything in heaven before we do it on earth. For heaven makes the laws by which earth is governed. Let earth conclude what it will; there will be conclusions in heaven that overthrow all its conclusions.

Therefore in our prayers we should begin with God, and ask him with earnest and fervent entreaties to set everything going, to set these lower causes in order. And when we have gained what we want in heaven, it is easy to gain it on earth. Let us win what we desire in heaven at God’s hands, and then what an easy thing it is to work with princes and other governors in the state, once we have gained God! Has he not “the hearts of kings in his hand as the rivers of water” (Prov 21:1), to turn this way or that way? As a skillful man draws off water by this channel or by that, as he opens an outlet for it, so God opens a way for the deliberations and decisions of kings and princes to run this way or that, to this good or that, as he pleases. Therefore, considering that all lower things depend absolutely on God, when we have to do with kings or great men, let us always begin with prayer.

When Jacob was to deal with Esau, he fell down and prayed first. And when he had obtained it from God by prayer, God, who makes even of enemies friends, turned Esau’s heart from an enemy’s to a friend’s. And God put into Jacob’s heart a wise course to bring this about: to offer a present, and to give Esau titles, “My lord Esau” (Gen 32:4). When God intends to bring something about among men, and to hear the prayers made to him for the favor of men, he will put into their hearts such ways as will let them prevail with men, as Jacob did with Esau. So Esther, before she went to Ahasuerus, prevailed in heaven first by prayer. And when she had obtained it from God by prayer, how gracious and gentle Ahasuerus was to her! So we see in other places of Scripture that when holy men have had to deal with men, they began with God.

I beg you, therefore, learn this point of Christian wisdom. If you want to succeed (as we all want to succeed in our business), especially those of you who have public responsibilities, pray to God, who has the hearts of kings and princes under his government and guidance, that he would make them favorable. Do not think to carry things by a violent course, for then God does not usually give good success. Rather, carry things by a religious course to the King of heaven, and then learn on what terms to stand in all lower matters, so far as may agree with the will of God in heaven.

If all lower things depend on God, then we must not offend God and go against conscience for anyone, because he is “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” He does not set up authority against himself, to disarm and disable himself. He never intended to set up gods under him so as to make himself a cipher, so that he should make them gods and himself a man, or nobody, and overturn the whole frame of things. He never meant to set up any ordinance to nullify himself and make himself nobody. Therefore, I say, we ought to pray to God for kings, so that in our obedience we may be sure to do nothing against conscience for any creature.

We must do everything we possibly can to win their favor and commend ourselves to them, because it is useless to pray unless we use every possible means to win their favor. But if it cannot be had on good terms, then “whether to obey God or man, judge ye” (Acts 4:19). And as the three young men said, “We take no thought to answer in this matter; our God can defend us if he will” (Dan 3:16). And as Esther said, “If I perish, I perish” (Esth 4:16). When things are clear, we are to be resolute, yet still reserving due respect for God’s ordinance and for his lieutenant on earth. I say, always reserving due respect, and using means to win favor, and also using prayer.

Holy Nehemiah prays here, and together with that he waits on the king. As good Jacob paid court to Esau, so all good means must be used, or else God will not bless our proceedings.

Remember that all lower governors whatsoever are subordinate and dependent, and therefore they must be regulated by a superior. They are limited, they are dependent, they are derived. They depend on God; their authority is derived from him. Therefore, as the apostle says that servants must obey their masters in the Lord (Eph 6:5), so we must obey and do everything “in the Lord.” That limitation must always be added. But with that reserved, it is a good thing to pray for favor from the king, because it matters greatly for bringing business to a good outcome. And along with prayer there must be a use of means to win favor, always with this liberty: to do it so far as we can while keeping a good conscience.

The civil lawyers have a distinction: there is parting with a thing cumulatively and parting with it privatively. To part with a thing cumulatively is to part with it in such a way that we keep the ownership. To part with it privatively is to give away the ownership and all. Now God parts with nothing here below so as to strip himself. He parts with it cumulatively: he communicates authority to others but keeps the ownership for himself. Therefore we must obey them in him, and with this limitation, so far as it may agree with his favor.

To draw to a conclusion in a word: you see here that any good Christian may be a good statesman in one good sense. What sense is that? A good Christian has credit in heaven and has a spirit of prayer. His prayer can set God to work, and God can set the king to work, and the king can set his subjects to work. Now whoever can prevail with God to prevail with the gods on earth here is surely a profitable person in the state. And you know that God can alter all matters and shape all things; it takes only a word from his mouth. And what God can do, prayer can do. For prayer binds God, because it is the prayer of faith, and faith, as it were, overcomes God. Prayer is the flame of faith, the outlet of faith, and faith is a victorious, triumphant grace with God himself.

If anyone can prevail with God for a blessing on a state, it is Christians. Then certainly there is no good Christian who is not of excellent service in the state. Though in particular he may perhaps lack policy, wisdom and skill in government, yet he has God’s ear to hear him, and he can pray to God that God would make the king and the other subordinate magistrates favorable.

You see what great good a good man may do in a state. The innocent man delivers the land, as it says in Job 22:30. And the poor wise man delivers the city, as it says in Ecclesiastes 9:15. A few holy, gracious people who have grace and credit in heaven above may move God to set all things in a blessed order below. And surely, if this holy means were used, things would be better than they are; and until it is used, we can never look for the good success and outcome that we might otherwise hope for.

Many things might be said about the doctrinal part. I will give you only a word on it: God has our hearts under his government more than we ourselves do. I speak of it to inform our judgment in a point of doctrine. Does God foresee things below, and on that foresight determine which way they shall go? Or does he foreordain that they shall go this way because he directs them so? The latter is to make God truly God. He determines that these things shall be because he determines, in the series and order of causes, to bring things to pass, and to guide kings and princes and magistrates and everyone this way. Again, has God left all men at liberty, especially in matters of grace, so that they may apply grace at their own liberty, whichever way they will, and does he then, foreseeing which way they will apply their liberty, determine this or that about them? This is to make every man’s will a god and to strip God of his honor, as if God could foresee the inclination of the creature without foreseeing that he himself meant to incline it this way or that.

Can God foresee any entity, anything that has a being in nature or grace, without foreseeing that he will direct it this way or that? He cannot. That view makes him no God. We see that God has the hearts of kings in his power, and that is the ground of praying for grace for them. Why should we pray for them if they could apply their own wills whichever way they pleased? Why should we give thanks for what we have liberty to do this way or that? It stifles devotion, petition and thanksgiving to say that the creature has liberty to apply itself, and that God, seeing it would apply itself this way, determined accordingly. Oh no. We must go to God. He has set down an order and course of means; and in the use of those means we must ask him to guide us by his good Spirit, to enlighten our understandings, and to guide our wills and affections by his Holy Spirit, because our hearts are under his government more than under our own.

If it were necessary to prove it, I could prove it at length. If there had been such a liberty, good Nehemiah would never have made this prayer. But God, of himself, strangely puts thoughts into men’s minds and guides everything, as we may see excellently in the story of Esther. I will give you only that example and instance. What a strange thing it was that Ahasuerus could not sleep; that when he could not sleep he called for the book; that he then read about Mordecai; and that he thereupon advanced Mordecai. All this tended to the good of the church. It was a strange thing. And so in other things. It is a strange thing that God should put little thoughts and desires into great persons, then follow them up with this circumstance and that, and so bring things to pass.

All this is from God. Unless we hold that God rules everything outward, and especially the hearts of men, where it is his special prerogative to set up his throne, we shall never pray heartily or give thanks. And if we do pray and give thanks, he will put thoughts into governors’ minds, strange thoughts and resolutions for the good of the church, which we could never have thought of, and which could not come from anywhere but from the great God of heaven and earth. We shall see a strange providence work together for the good of all. But I must leave the enlarging of these things to your own thoughts and meditations.

It remaineth, brethren, the time is short: let those that have wives be as if they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away (1 Cor 7:29-31).

In the earlier part of this chapter the blessed apostle had given direction in cases of conscience, for he was a man who had the tongue of the learned to speak a word in season to the weary (Isa 50:4). Then, having greater matters in view, as is his habit in almost every epistle, he calls them away from particular cases, so that they should not trouble themselves too much about them, but mind the main thing: “The time is short: let those that are married be as if they were not.” But even so, he does give satisfaction in the particular cases.

For in traveling it is not enough to know that a man’s way lies east, or west, or north, or south; he must know the turnings and windings, the particulars of the way. So in religion it is not enough to know that we must serve God above all and love our neighbor as ourselves, and so on. Atheists will embrace those generalities, and under pretense of them shake off all further study of religion. Our knowledge must extend to clearing particular cases as well, and once they are cleared, the way to heaven is smoother. Yet even so, we must not dwell too much on particulars, for here you see the apostle calls them off: “Finally, my brethren, the time is short”; it remains that we look to the main thing. “For the fashion of this world passeth away.” On these words we considered two points in general, which I will only name, and then hasten on to what follows.

The first was this:

Doctrine 1. A very good way to settle cases of conscience in particular is to keep the main thing in mind.

There are many who puzzle themselves all their lives about this or that particular, and forget the main thing in the meantime. Let a man look to the main, and he will soon settle such particular questions as whether it is good to redeem time to hear a sermon now and then. He will simply do it and not stand making a case of it. For when he considers how it helps toward the main thing, the saving of his soul, for which he came into the world, he will easily be resolved.

It is the same with keeping the Lord’s Day wholly holy. Many have scruples and make a great fuss, but if they had the love of God in their souls and looked to the main thing, they would see it to be an idle question. For how much it furthers the main!

It is the same with keeping company. Are they people who encourage and cheer us? Are they people we may profit by? If not, why should I entangle myself and hinder the main? So we see that Paul, in resolving the particulars, calls them to the main thing: “Brethren, the time is short,” and therefore be in these things as though you were not in them (as we shall see shortly in the particulars), “for the fashion of this world passeth away.”

This is why no one but a true Christian can carry himself moderately in the things of this world. Why? Because no one but a sound Christian has a main thing, a chief end that holds the helm of his whole life. He looks to heaven and happiness, and to how it will be with him afterward, and he weighs particulars accordingly. Another man, by contrast, must of necessity go wrong in particular cases, because he has no gracious aim. There is no man, except a Christian, who does not lose himself in the things of this world.

The second point is this. You see that:

Doctrine 2. Religion deals with all matters.

It deals with the world, with marriage, with buying and possessing, as we shall see later. An atheist who resents having his ways hindered by that commanding skill of religion, which has to do with all things, says, “What does the minister have to do with our callings, with lawyers, with tradesmen, or with statesmen? What does the minister have to do with these things?”

It is true that he has nothing to do with the materials, with the particular matters of those callings. That is left to the craftsmen, to those who have skill in the particulars of their own professions, each in its kind. But a minister and a Christian, and religion in any man, has to deal with these things insofar as they help to further the main thing. For religion is a skill that fits a man for a further end, for his last end, for heaven.

Now, since it is such a skill, it must direct everything so far as it helps or hinders that end. Statecraft, we say, is a commanding knowledge. Why? Because it deals with all trades. How? Does a statesman have skill in this or that trade? No, not in the particular craft; but he has skill so far as he sees what may serve the public good. Let the safety of the commonwealth be the law of all trades. Statecraft is the supreme knowledge, since it is for the good of the whole; therefore the statesman cuts off particulars if they are harmful to the whole. In the same way all trades must be told of their faults insofar as they are blemishes on religion. For we must not be so taken up with this or that trade that we forget we are Christians. Therefore we must hear the word of God meekly when it meets with our particular callings. We see that Paul deals with buying and selling, with marriage, and so on. How? As far as they might hinder the main: “Finally, my brethren, the time is short, and the fashion of this world passeth away.” Therefore do not be too much taken up with these things.

It is the supreme reason; it is the main reason, the one that argues for religion, just as I said before of statecraft that it is the supreme law. Yet though statecraft is supreme with regard to what is beneath it, there is one above it: the chief reason of all, the one that argues for religion. There are many particular reasons that argue for this and that. Yes, but if religion says the contrary, then religion must rule; it is the supreme reason.

Now I come to unfold the particulars. The apostle here insists on five directions and boundaries. These are the five directions, with three reasons:

“Let those that are married be as if they were not.”

“Those that weep, as if they wept not.”

“Those that rejoice, as if they rejoiced not.”

“And they that buy, as though they possessed not.”

“And they that use this world, as not abusing it.”

How are these five directions enforced? They are enforced by three reasons.

The first stands at the front of the text: “The time is short.” Therefore be moderate in all things here.

The second is at the close of the text: “For the fashion of this world passeth away.”

The third reason is also a main reason: it is drawn from their state and condition in Christ. “Why, brethren,” he says, “partakers of the heavenly calling” (Heb 3:1), as he says in another place, partakers of better things (2 Cor 1:7); and they are “brethren,” “brethren in Christ,” “members of Christ.” Christ is the knot that ties the brotherhood together, since you are born again “sons of God,” “brethren of Christ”; not brethren only among yourselves, but “brethren in Christ,” and so sons of God and heirs of heaven. What! Should you be immoderate in the things of the world?

Paul wraps up a moving reason here, not only to win their affections gently, “Oh, my brethren!” but to add the force of reason as well. “Brethren, the time is short.” And, brethren, “the fashion of this world passeth away.” So add these three reasons to the five directions, and see how strongly Paul backs up his directions. Indeed, it was necessary for Paul to do so. We are so desperately set on the things of this world, and so hard to draw away from them, that there must be reason upon reason. For the Holy Spirit of God does not love to waste reasons by spending them where there is no need. Therefore we must regard it as a weighty point, and a very just one, that we listen to these directions.

We must remember that every one of these reasons has force in every direction. You who have wives, be as if you had none, for “the time is short” and “the fashion of the world passeth away.” And so you who “weep, as if you wept not,” “for the time is short, and the fashion of the world passeth away.” And you are “brethren,” you who “use the world, as not abusing it,” for “the time is short, and the fashion of the world passeth away.” So all these reasons must be kept in mind with every particular direction. I speak of them only in general. I will speak a little of the first reason, “The time is short.”

What time?

(1) The time of the world. There is only a little time before the day of judgment. Christ is at hand to judge the living and the dead. The time between now and then is short. It was short then; it is shorter now. “The time is short.” We have fallen into the last part of the world’s age. But that is not all.

(2) The time is short of our little world. Our particular judgment is near at hand. As it is with us when we die, so it will be with us at the last day. Our time is short; the time of our particular life is short, and that is a more forcible argument to persuade us that “the time is short.”

(3) The season of the time, which is the prime time. The season and opportunity of time is shorter than the time of life, for we do not have opportunity all our lives. “The time is short”; that is:

[1] The advantage of doing good and of receiving good is short. The whole year is not harvest or seedtime. It is not always high tide; it is not always sunshine. And as it is in nature, so it is in the spiritual state of things: we do not always have advantages and opportunities; we do not always have favorable winds. Opportunity, then, is shorter than time, just as our time is shorter than the time of the world. “The time is short”; the opportunity and season of time is shorter still.

[2] Yes, and it is uncertain; we cannot tell how short it is. If any of us here were told that he would die within two days, it would startle us, the best of us all; it would make us look about us. But which of us all knows for certain that he will live two hours? As time is short, so it is uncertain. And here is the astonishing folly of our nature: we take so much future time on trust, as though we were sure to live that long, and as though we had made a covenant with death. But one party cannot make a covenant. God and the time to come make no covenant with us. Therefore it is the height of folly to say, “I will live so long, and so long.” “Thou fool,” says God to the man who planned for a long time and had treasure laid up for many years, “Thou fool, this night they shall take thy soul” (Luke 12:20). A man is a fool when he counts on continuing in something he has no promise of. And therefore, since time is short and uncertain too, let us take it while we can catch hold of it, especially the opportunity of time.

[3] And in the third place, it is irrecoverable once it is gone. There is no calling time back when it is past. In all these respects we must be good stewards. We must be thrifty with our time, and not busy ourselves with ways to pass away what flies away so fast by itself. It is a precious thing, precious for great purposes. What is this little time given us for? To provide for eternity, world without end. And we trifle it away on this thing and that thing to no purpose; we fill it up with vanity, and with sin, which is worse. In this little time we do what we cannot undo again in a long time. That is our madness and folly. Therefore, “the time being short,” let us take care what we do in it. In a little time we may do what we may regret for eternity. In a little time we may also do good and gain good that will stand by us world without end. Those who have only a little plot of ground will tend it so carefully that they will not waste a handful of it. So let those who have only a little time manage it well. Let them sow to the Spirit, so that our harvest may be eternal life, and so that we may say, “Oh, it was a great blessing that God gave me a little time to get into Christ, to repent of my sins.”

Beloved, there are three main parts of this little time: past, present, and to come.

(1) As for the time that is gone, let us repent of it if it has not been spent well. That is the best use we can make of the time past, for there is nothing to be done in time that is already past. But if things have been done badly, repent.

(2) The present time is for doing good. As for the time to come, it is out of our power, and therefore we must work even now, in the present. As for the time past, the best use we can make of it is to comfort ourselves in our sincerity, as Hezekiah did (Isa 38:3), or to repent if anything has been done amiss. But look to the present. Do not put it off; do the work for which we came into the world, and do it now. “The time is short”; the journey is long; the business is great. It is a great journey from earth to heaven; it is a great matter to get from earth to heaven.

(3) Now, since we have such business as going to heaven, let us, I beg you, consider the weight of the business, and give our eyes no sleep nor our eyelids slumber until we have reached a state and condition that is not subject to time. Let us make this special use of precious time.

Let those who are young be advised to take hold of their time while they have it, for it is to be valued far above gold. Let them consecrate the prime and the flower of their time to God and to the best things, especially considering that we have no assurance of this time. And let those who are old, who through age are going down to the grave, not neglect their time. A young man, as we say, may die soon; an old man cannot live long. And therefore let those who are advanced in years be reminded that their time is shorter than other people’s. All men’s time is short; old men’s is shortest. Let them, therefore, think about this: “The time is short.”

Our folly is this: we make our time shorter than it is by our “Vanity, vanity.” It would be well if it were only vanity. By sinful and intemperate ways of living many shorten their days, and so are felons against themselves; or by their wickedness they give God occasion to shorten their days. “A bloodthirsty and cruel man shall not live out half his days” (Ps 55:23). God catches up with him. So “the time is short,” and we make it shorter. We are guilty of its shortness. Let us beware of that.

But I have dwelt too long on this point. Only, because it is the prime reason, set before all the particulars, I beg you to consider that “the time is short.” If we do not make use of it, we are worse than the devil himself, for he makes use of the shortness of his time. What does he do? Because the time is short, he does all the mischief he can (Rev 12:12). He fills up his time to enlarge his kingdom; he does all the mischief he can for this reason, because his time is short. Let us learn something even from the worst of spirits.

But what this reason serves for in particular here is this. We have many things to do, and since time is short, let us be sure we do the main thing we came for, and do other things only as they help the main and do not hinder it. The time is short, and we have many matters of business to attend to; let us be sure that we do our real business in such a way that we do not leave the main thing undone. That is what the apostle aims at here: “The time is short.”

“It remains that those that have wives be as if they had none.”

1. That is the first particular. They had earlier asked him cases of conscience about marriage, and that is what leads him to speak of it. All the particulars depend on one another. Those who marry will have occasion to weep; that comes next, for there will be cause. There will be the loss of a husband, or a wife, or a child, and there is always something; family crosses attend marriage. Therefore he adds weeping after marriage.

And then rejoicing follows, because there is joy. A woman brings forth in sorrow, but she joys when a man child is born, as Christ says (John 16:21). There is joy in children, and there is a mutual joy in that sweet friendship of marriage; there is much joy. And therefore, as there is weeping in marriage, so there is joy.

“And those that buy, as if they possessed not.” There must be buying where there are a wife and children; there must be provision for posterity. And then all this requires “using of the world.” When men enter into that estate, they enter into the world; as we say, they begin the world anew. They enter into the world, for many things are necessary to maintain that household. So we see one thing depends on another. He joins them all together, aiming especially at one thing, at that kind of life in particular.

Now in every one of these particulars he grants a liberty to do the thing. You may marry, you may weep, you may rejoice, you may buy, you may use the world. But as there is a liberty, so there is a danger: you may, but you must not go too far. And therefore together with the liberty he gives a restraint. Do these things, but take care that you do not overdo them. And this restraint is backed with reason; he has a reason for his restraint. “The time is short,” and therefore there is danger that you will launch yourselves too far, that you will go too deep into these things. “And the fashion of this world passeth away”; all things here pass away. Therefore it is vain for you to be too much taken up with things that are only passing.

And then you are “brethren,” called to greater matters. So in every particular there is a liberty, a danger, and a restraint upon the danger, and also a reason to back it up.

(1) The liberty. We may marry. That is not in question. It is not only a liberty; it is an honorable estate, and a necessary one. It was honored in paradise and honored by Christ’s presence. It is a liberty by which the church is upheld and heaven is increased. It was the devil who brought in a low esteem of that honorable condition. Under popery, men would rather be the members of a harlot than the head of a wife. It was the devil who brought in those abominable opinions and writings that disparage that honorable condition, and so it must be regarded.

(2) But there is a danger, and that is the main thing. You who have wives, “be as if you had none.” There is a great danger in a double respect: a danger in the things themselves, and a peril if we go too far in them. That is, there is a great hazard that we shall go too far in that condition, and a danger to which that leads.

For instance, have not those who have wives been drawn away by their wives into idolatry, as Solomon was (1 Kgs 11:4)? Is there not a danger of being drawn away? And in being drawn away, is there not a hazard to our souls? Did not sin come in that way? Was not Adam led astray by his wife? And how many men perish by doting too much on their wives, by being too pliable in that respect? If they had remembered the apostle’s command to marry as if they had not, they would not have been drawn away like that.

Because there is a danger, there is a restraint: “Let those that have wives be as though they had none.” What! Are they to treat their wives as if they had none? To care for them as if they had none? No, that is not the meaning, “but to be as if they had none.” That is, let them be as resolute for God’s truth as if they had no wives to hinder them. Let them be as willing to suffer crosses, if God calls them to it, as if they had none. Let them be as ready for good duties, if they fall within their calling, as if they had none. Let them avoid distracting cares and worldly entanglements as if they had none. Let them not plead their marriage as an excuse for baseness and worldliness, and for avoiding crosses and afflictions when God is pleased to call them to them. Let them not plead marriage as an excuse for double-dealing and dissembling in religion: “I shall ruin my wife and children.” “Let them be as if they had none,” for Christ has directed us to hate all for Christ. A man is not worthy of Christ and of religion who does not value wife and children and all below the gospel. If it comes to the question whether I should cling to them or to Christ, my chief husband, I must cling to Christ.

The reason is that the bond of religion is above all bonds. And the bond that binds us to Christ remains when all other bonds cease. All bonds between husband and wife, between father and children, end in death; but the bond of Christ is eternal. Every bond must serve the main bond. Therefore we must not plead this or that as an excuse to wrong Christ and religion, which is the main bond. We must so labor to please others that we do not displease our chief husband. For the time will come when we shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be as the angels (Matt 22:30); and that time shall be without bounds and limits, for eternity. We must look to that. And therefore those who marry, let them be as if they were not married.

You know how it went with those in the gospel who pleaded this as the reason for not coming to Christ. The one who was married said, “I cannot come” (Luke 14:20). His excuse was more peremptory than the rest: he could not. Could even this excuse him? And will pleading this excuse men when they are called to their duties? There is so great a disproportion between Christ, our chief husband, and anyone else, even the wife of our bosom or the children of our loins (for Christ has redeemed us, and is our best husband, a husband for eternity in heaven), that no excuse will serve for a man to wrong the bond of religion for any other bond whatsoever. And therefore you know the peremptory answer given to the one who pleaded that excuse: You shall never taste of my feast (Luke 14:24).

“And those that weep, as though they wept not.”

2. It is lawful to weep, not only for sin (which should be the main thing) but also for the miseries of the time and state we live in. There is liberty here. “Oh that my head were a fountain of tears,” says Jeremiah (Jer 9:1). He thought he could not weep enough, and therefore he wished that his head were “a fountain.” He thought his tears would soon run dry. “Oh that my head were a fountain”: so there is liberty to weep. Indeed, more than that, men are bound to weep. There are tears of sympathy for the misery of the state and time we live in, and likewise for family losses and crosses. We are flesh, not spirit. God has made us men and has given us a feeling sense of grief, and it is a cursed temper to be without natural affection. We may weep, and we may grieve; indeed, we ought to grieve.

Now grief is, as it were, a cloud from which the shower of tears comes, and weeping is only a distillation of that vapor.

If we may grieve, and ought to grieve, for the times (and it is a stupid temper not to perceive the miseries of the state and times we live in), then if we may grieve, we may weep. Grief is set down here for the spring from which weeping comes.

As for grief itself, there is liberty; there is no question of that. We may weep, but we must weep as if we wept not, for there is a danger in weeping too much over any crosses. Here is a danger: we may indulge our grief too much for wives and children. God takes it ill. He takes it unkindly that, when Christ himself is a perpetual husband and God is an everlasting Father, we should weep and grieve too much for the loss of a father, or a wife, or a child. For is not God worth all? So there is a danger, because by nature we are as prone to over-grieve when we grieve as we are to over-rejoice when we rejoice. Our nature can hardly keep within bounds. And God takes it unkindly when we do so, when we over-grieve; for it is a sign that we do not draw the comfort we should from him who is the spring and fountain.

And therefore let those who weep be as if they wept not; that is, not overmuch. “For the time is short.” Do you lose a friend, or anything else? “The time is short”; we shall meet again. There is only a little time between now and the last judgment, “and the fashion of this world passeth away.” There will be a new world, a new heaven, and a new earth. And then we shall live for ever with the Lord.

And then, my “brethren.” Why? “Brethren” should not be without hope of the resurrection, as the Gentiles are. They may weep who never expect to see one another again. But a Christian, a brother, who has hope of meeting again, let him not weep as one without hope; so let us weep, as if we wept not. So he lays a restraint upon that. Indeed, even when our weeping is for sin, there must be moderation in it, for we may over-grieve. We are bound to rejoice in the Lord, and always to rejoice. And therefore we must weep for sin in such a way that we remember to rejoice. With one eye we must look upon our sins to humble us, and look upon our hearts to grieve; but with the other eye we must look upon God’s mercy in Christ to comfort us again. Even the best grief of all must be moderate; much more must grief for any earthly thing.

Now, when we are tempted to over-grieve for any earthly thing, the best way is to divert the grief. Do I grieve for these things? Yes, but is my soul as it should be? Let me weep over my dead soul, as Christ wept over Lazarus when he was dead. Let me weep over my dull soul; let me weep over that.

As physicians, when the blood runs too much one way, open an outlet for it another way, so let us turn our grief the right way. How is it with us? Is the life of grace there? Are accounts even between God and my soul? Am I fit to end my days? Am I in a state fit for heaven? Then we shall weep for something. It is a pity that such pearls as tears should be lost. God has no bottles for tears that are shed overmuch for the things of the world. But if they are for our sins, and the sins of the time we live in, and for the ills and miseries of the state that are upon us and hang over our heads, then let us weep to good purpose. Let us turn our grief the right way, and then let us grieve with all our might, if we will, so long as our grief runs in that channel.

“Those that joy, as if they did not.”

3. Joy we may, and joy we ought; for God does not begrudge us our joy. He has given us things to rejoice in during this life, an abundance of comforts of all sorts for all our senses, flowers and colors, and so on. We have nothing in soul or body that lacks objects to delight in. God has made himself for the soul to delight in, and there is something to delight us in every creature. So sweet is God; we may, and ought to, rejoice. God gives us wife and children to rejoice in: “Rejoice in the wife of thy youth” (Prov 5:18). There is no question of liberty in these things.

But then there is a danger, especially in sweet affections. There is danger because we are likely to over-rejoice, and poison is most subtly conveyed in sweet things. We are prone to over-rejoice. There is a danger; therefore there must be a restraint. We must joy as if we rejoiced not. That is, we must so rejoice in anything here as remembering that “the time is short”; I cannot enjoy it long. Shall I joy in what I cannot enjoy? “The time is short.” I cannot enjoy these things. If a man cannot enjoy a thing long, he cannot truly joy in it. “The time is short”: you must go. The things must go, and both must go. “And the fashion of this world passeth away.” The whole frame of things passes away. Marriage passes away; callings and friends pass away; all things pass away.

I beseech you, let us learn to rejoice as if we rejoiced not. The prophet calls Nineveh a rejoicing city (Zeph 2:15), and we live in a jovial age. Men eat and drink as they did in the days of the old world, in Noah’s time; they marry and give in marriage (Matt 24:38). And therefore we need to lay some restraint upon our joy, especially when God calls us to mourning as well as to joy, as he does if we look round about us. If we look at the times, we shall see cause to rejoice as if we did not. We must not always be in a merry mood, as the saying goes, but must temper and moderate our joy.

Now, since the apostle adds weeping, grieving, and joy, you see that religion consists especially in moderating the affections.

Religion is the purging of the affections from the evil that is in them, and the moderating of them, if they are lawful and good. And therefore do not think you are religious enough if you know a great deal. Many Christians are very greedy of knowledge, and yet if you look at their lives, their grief and joy are intemperate; they have not learned to bridle and school their affections. You see that religion lies in moderating grief and joy in earthly things. Let us see men show the power of religion in bearing crosses, so that “they weep as if they wept not,” and in bearing prosperity, so that they can learn to abound and to rejoice as if they rejoiced not. That man has learned religion to good purpose, for religion is especially about the affections. We are good if we rejoice well and grieve well, but not because we know much. The devil knows more than we do. Therefore labor especially that God would grant grace to govern the affections, so that we may know how to grieve and how to rejoice, which by nature, indeed, we do not.

And then we see here another point, which I now add: the affections of God’s people are mixed. They weep in such a way that their weeping is mingled with joy, and their joy is mingled with weeping. “They weep as if they wept not,” “they joy as if they joyed not.”

A carnal man’s affections are altogether unmixed. If he rejoices, he throws the house out of the window, as we say. If he is merry, he is mad; he has no bounds. If he is sorrowful, unless something restrains him, he sinks like a beast under his sorrow, as Nabal did (1 Sam 25:37-38); for he has no grace to temper his sorrow and to temper his joy, and therefore he is either over-sorrowful or over-jocund. Ah, but grace, considering that we have causes for both, tempers the affections. A Christian, when he rejoices, does not over-rejoice, for he has cause at that very time to mourn for something. And when he grieves, he does not over-grieve, for he has something even then to rejoice in. Christ is his, heaven is his, and the providence of God that directs all for good is still his; he has something to rejoice in at the worst. And therefore all his affections are tempered and moderated. So much for that point.

“And they that buy, as if they possessed not.”

4. It is lawful to buy. It is lawful to make contracts, and private property is lawful. Every man ought to have his own. There would be no theft if there were no property, nor could there be any works of mercy. Now, if property and ownership of things are lawful, so that we may possess things as our own, then buying is lawful. That is one way of contract, one way of making things our own; there is no danger in that. But there is a danger in the manner of buying. Men buy to perpetuate themselves: “They call their lands after their names” (Ps 49:11), and they think to continue for ever. God makes fools of them. How few will you find who go beyond the third generation? How few houses will you find where the child or the grandchild can say, “This was my grandfather’s and my great-grandfather’s”? How few houses, where those now living in them can say, “My ancestor lived here, and these were his lands”? Go over a whole country, and few can say so.

Men, when they build, build castles in the air along with their building on the earth. They have their fancies: “Now I build for my child, and for my child’s child.” God crosses them. Either they have no posterity, or through a thousand things that happen in the world it falls out otherwise. “The time is short, and the fashion of this world passeth away”; that is, the buildings pass away, the owning passes away, all things here pass away. And therefore buy as if you possessed not. Buy in such a way that we do not neglect the best possession, in heaven, and so possess these things that we are not possessed and commanded by them.

In Leviticus 25:8 you see that the year of Jubilee was appointed so that all possessions might return again, if men were willing. God trained them up by this, to teach them that they should not think of keeping for long, as an inheritance, the things they bought, for they returned in the year of Jubilee, in the fiftieth year. So we must learn that we cannot possess things long. Even while we possess them ourselves, we may be thrust out by fraud or tyranny. Therefore let those that buy be as though they did not possess. In Jeremiah 22:23 he says, “Thou makest thy nest in the cedars,” and you think it will be thus and thus with you. Oh, beloved, let us not build and dwell in our hopes and assurance upon what will yield no certain hope and assurance in this world. “For the fashion of this world,” as we shall see hereafter, “passeth away.”

And then, for “brethren” who have an inheritance in heaven to buy as if they should live here for ever! “Brethren”: that is a reason to draw them off. Brethren, buy as if you possessed not. So much for the four directions.

“They that use the world, as not abusing it.”

5. We may use the world while we are here in it, for we cannot do without the things of this life. We are members of two worlds while we are here. We are members of this world, and we are heirs of a better one; we have a relation to two worlds.

Now while we live in this world we must use the things of this world. How many things this poor life needs while we are in this world! While we are travelers we must have things to help us on the way to heaven. Travelers must have necessities; there is no question of that. And therefore we must use the world in many ways.

“As not abusing it.”

There is danger in using the world. There is a danger of cleaving in your affections to the things of this world so much that we forget a better world; and therefore we should use it as not abusing it.

How should we use it?

Why, use this world as laying a foundation for a better world. While we live here, use the world so that we may further our account for a better one. Use the things of the world so that we may express some grace in using them. Use the world so that the using of it may comfort us when the thing passes. The “world passeth.” But let us use the world so that the grace we express in the use of it may continue. Use the world to the honor of God, to the good of others, to the increase of our account. Do not abuse it to the dishonor of God; do not fight against God with his own blessings. That is to abuse the world. Do not forget God the giver. Would it not be an unkind thing if a man invited strangers and they turned their kind friend who had invited them out of doors? And so it is to use the things of the world so as to turn God, who gives all, out of our hearts.

Do not turn the things of this world against God, or against others, making them weapons of injustice and growing great in order to ruin others. Do not abuse them to do wrong and to pierce our own souls, as the apostle says, with cares and the like (1 Tim 6:10). This is to abuse the world: when we dishonor God, or wrong others, or pierce our own souls. God has not given us the things of this world for this end, that we should hurt ourselves with them. And therefore, together with the things, let us desire a gracious use of them, for that is better than the thing itself. Labor to use them as not abusing them, as we shall abuse them if we do not have grace to use them well. Many have the gifts of God without God, because they do not have his grace. When we have the gifts of God, let us desire grace to manage them well. To his children God gives this along with the other. He never gives them anything without giving them grace to make a sanctified use of it. They are sanctified to all things, and all things are sanctified to them.

“Use the world as not abusing it.” The reason is strong: “The time is short.” Why should we be excessive in using the things of this world? For that is one way of abusing the things of this world. “The time is short.” We must be pulled from them whether we will or not. And therefore let us wean ourselves. And then, “the fashion of this world passeth away.” Why should we dote upon a perishing fashion? All things here pass away, and a new fashion comes after. You “brethren,” who are heirs of a better world, use this “world as not abusing it.” By “brethren” he puts them in mind of a higher calling. And so I come to the last.

“For the fashion of this world passeth away.”

6. That is the second reason. The word for “fashion” means the appearance of this world: the outward fashion, the outward view and hue of the things of this world, which pass away. It is a notably diminishing word in the original, as if the world were not a substance but a fashion. As we say in philosophy, in the air there are apparitions and there are substances, as sometimes flying horses and fighting men appear in the air. These are not substances but apparitions of things. It is only an appearance, an apparition or shape. The substance and true reality of these things is another matter. So whatever is in the world is only an apparition. When the devil showed Christ all the kingdoms of the world, he showed him only an apparition, a show of things. There is a diminishing in the word “show.”

And then there is the word “fadeth away.” “The fashion of this world passeth away”; or, as some translate it, “deceives, and turns us aside.” And so indeed it does, from better things. “The fashion of this world passeth away”: that translation is fit enough. “It passeth away.” Now shall we be immoderate in anything that passes away? It is only an apparition, only a show, only a pageant. The word is partly taken from a pageant, a show that has a resemblance of this and that. But there is no reality or substance in a pageant. From this:

Use 1. Learn to conceive rightly of the things of this life, that there is no reality in them to speak of. They have a kind of reality. Riches are in some sort riches, beauty is in some sort beauty, nobility is in some sort nobility, and so possessions are in some sort possessions. But all this is only a pageant, as it were, like a man who acts in a pageant or in a play. He is in some sort a king, or a beggar, for the time. But we do not value him as he is then, but as he is when he is off the stage. And while we live here, we act the part, some of a rich man, some of a nobleman, some of a beggar or poor man; all is only the acting of a part. And the acting of a part on a stage is less out of proportion to this life than our life is to eternity. All is only the acting of a part.

We are not rich in the grave any more than others. The king is as poor in the grave as the lowliest peasant; his riches do not follow him. The worm and the grave know no difference. When we go to that house there is no difference; all acting and all differences end in the grave. And therefore, considering that this world is only an apparition, only the acting of a part, why should we think ourselves the better for anything here? Does the one who acts the part of a nobleman on the stage think himself better than another who acts the part of a poor man? No. He knows he will go off in a short time, and then he will be as he was before. Why are we not as wise in better things?

It is not the one who acts the greatest part, but the one who acts any part best. The one who acts the part of a poor man may do better than the one who acts the part of a rich man. It is not the greatness of the part, but the acting of it well. All is only an apparition. If a man of low degree honors God in his condition and is faithful in a humble estate, he is a thousand times better than a great man who makes his greatness an instrument of injustice, as if all the world were there to serve his turn, and to make men idolize him. Such a man is a wretched man, and will be so when he is turned off the stage. It matters not how long he has lived, or how great a part he has acted, but how well. We do not value men as they are while they are acting, but as they are afterward. If they were bad before, they are bad after; and they are praised afterward if they did it well. So it does not matter what part a man acts. If he acts it well, he is happy for ever; if he acts it ill, he is miserable for ever. All here is only a pageant.

If you talk of reality, it is in the things of religion. If you talk of true nobility, it is to be a child of God. If you talk of true riches, they are those that we carry to our deathbed, those that we carry to heaven, those that comfort the soul, those that enrich the soul with grace and comfort and peace; those are true riches. If you talk of true beauty, it is to have the image of God stamped upon our souls, to be like Christ, to be new creatures. If we talk of true strength, it is to stand against temptations, to be able to serve God, to go through the world without polluting our souls, and to bear crosses as we should. That is the true reality. The things of this life are all only apparitions and pageants.

The greatest man in the world will say so when he lies dying, as that great emperor said, “I have run through all things, and now nothing does me good.” The reality he had thought of was gone, and now there was nothing but a show and an apparition; when the reality was gone, “nothing does me good.” Come to a man who is gasping out his life, and ask him, “What good do honors do you? What good do riches do you? What good do possessions do you?”

Solomon was a wise man: wise by the Spirit of God; wise by experience, because he was a king; wise by a special gift of God, a gift of wisdom. He had everything to enable him to give a true verdict. He had run through the variety of all good things; and what does he pronounce but “vanity of vanities” (Eccl 1:2)? Words fail him. “Vanity of vanities,” says wise, holy, experienced Solomon. He had all the abilities, so that no man was able to say it as well as he; yet he says, “Vanity of vanities,” and, what is worse, “vexation of spirit,” if a man does not have special grace to manage these things aright. And therefore I beseech you, “brethren,” only picture the things of this life under the notion given here: they are only apparitions; they are only pageants. If we go to buy anything in this world, we first pull off the trappings; we pull off the mask, or else we may be cheated in the purchase. So if we want to judge the things of this world as they really are, let us ask: What is inside riches? Is there not a great deal of care? What is inside government? What is inside the things of this life? There is a fine show and appearance. But what is inside? Pull off the mask, and then you will see the things of this world. The more you pierce into them, and the more you know them, the worse you like them. There is emptiness in them, and not only that, but vexation.

But with the things of heaven, the nearer you come, the more you will love them and the more you will admire them. The more a man knows God, the more he may know him. The more a man knows Christ and loves Christ, the more he may. There is a height and breadth and depth there, all dimensions, in the love of God in Christ and in the joys of heaven; they are beyond comprehension. The things we have in Christ are larger than the soul; we cannot take them in. There is nothing here that we cannot take in; it all falls below our knowledge and affections. Our affections and our knowledge are larger than anything here, but the things of a better life are beyond them all. Shall we be taken with appearances, when the more we know them, the less we will value them?

“And the fashion of this world passeth away.” It is a fashion; it is only a fashion; and then it “passeth away.” Indeed, these things do pass away. Experience shows that they pass just like a river. The water passes away; it goes, and goes along, but it never comes back. So it is with the things of this world: they pass away, but they never come again. They vanish away, and we pass away with them too. It is like men in a ship: whether they eat or drink or sleep or walk, the ship moves on, and they go along in it. So it is in this world. Whether we eat or drink or sleep, we are passing away toward death. Every day takes part of our life away, and every day we live, we have a day less to live. That day is gone and past, and it never returns, just like water once it has gone by. Whether we walk or do anything else, the time passes. While you hear and while I speak, the time passes, and it never returns. So “the fashion of this world passeth away.” Everything here is passing.

We call some things movables, and indeed even the things we call immovables are movable. Everything passes away. Heaven and earth will pass away before long, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1). Kingdoms pass away, kings pass away, and states pass away. What has become of Rome? What has become of Jerusalem? What has become of Babylon, and all those splendid cities? They have all “passed away”; they are all gone. Experience says this as well as divinity.

Reason 1. Now, the ground of all this is not only the nature of things. All things that exist are made out of nothing. Being therefore liable to fall back into their first principles again, that is the fundamental reason why things may be movable “and pass away.” But this is not a sufficient reason why they actually do so, for God could have suspended the mutability of things if he had wished. The heavenly angels, for example, are mutable because they are created, but God has suspended their mutability world without end. So it is not a sufficient reason to say that all things are made of nothing. That shows only that, of themselves, they may indeed turn to nothing.

Reason 2. But there is another reason. Since the fall of man there has been a curse on all things. A sentence of mutability and change, a sentence of “passing,” has been passed on everything: that all things that have a beginning will have an end, and that this world will be a stage of changes and alterations. There is a sentence of vanity on the creature: “The creature is subject to vanity; not of his own will, but because God hath subdued it to vanity” (Rom 8:20). Man committed treason, and so the creatures, which are man’s servants, all mourn for their master’s fall; they all mourn in black, as it were. All the creatures are subject to vanity. All the creatures under the sun are subject to mutability and change. But we may thank ourselves for it: we are the grand traitors who brought this misery on the creature. That is the true reason why all things “pass away,” and also why we ourselves have the sentence of death upon us. “We pass away,” and the things “pass away,” and we pass away in the very use of them. So you see the ground of this: things pass away because of the sentence of mutability and vanity that God has passed on them.

Use 2. If this is so, beloved, let us learn not to set much store by things that will “pass away.” So that we do not set store by them, let us learn all the former directions: “The fashion of this world passeth away.” Shall we grieve much over the loss of what we cannot hold? If a glass is broken, is a man very angry? We say it is only brittle stuff, and nothing lasts forever. If a friend dies, should a man therefore be angry? “The fashion of this world passeth away.” A sentence has been passed on these things. Shall I be troubled at something for which God has laid down a law, that one generation shall go and another shall follow after, so that there is a succession like the streams of water? Shall I oppose God’s sentence? God has made all things frail, and that is only the common condition of everything since the fall.

Use 3. So this should serve to comfort us and make us content with whatever we have in this world. Position, or riches, or honor: I must leave them, and I do not know how soon. And this will breed a disposition of contentment. Whatever he has is enough for someone who must leave it all, and does not know how soon. Whether I have little or much, I must leave it all. Here is enough for a man who must leave everything. And therefore leave worldly things to worldly men; leave all these vain things to vain men. Shall I build a settled hope on vain things? Oh, no! That should not be.

Use 4. As we must learn contentment, so this should take us off from the hopes of this world, and from promising ourselves things for which we have neither a promise nor any experience in the world. Who promised you that you would enjoy your wife long? Or that you would enjoy your children long? Or your position long? Do you have a promise for this? The very nature of things fights against you. The things of the world are changeable. Do we not have the experience of former times? And do we not have Scriptures to show that everything is “vanity”? Why should we promise ourselves what the Word does not promise us, or what we never see any experience of in the world? Why would we want a condition set apart from that of all other men? Seeing things in their fading condition should teach us contentment in the use of all things, and it should also teach us moderation and wisdom, so that we do not promise ourselves anything in this world.

Use 5. And it should teach us to provide for stable and certain things in the midst of changes and alterations. Look to something that will stand by us when all things are gone. Will all these things leave me, and must I leave them? Then how do things stand with me for the world without end? Should I not therefore seek the comforts and the graces and the condition that will remain when I am gone from here? What desperate folly it would be not to! Let us work at a sanctified use of the “passing away” of these things, so that we may provide for what is not subject to alteration and change. The favor of God in Christ is everlasting. The graces of God’s Spirit are everlasting. The condition of God’s children is everlasting. Why then should we chase after perishing things and neglect better ones?

For a Christian has the reality of things. He has a husband forever; he has cause for joy forever; he has a possession forever; and then there will be a new world. All these things here are only shows. The Christian has the reality of everything, and it never “passes away.” Since, then, all other things “pass away” except the things that belong to a Christian as a Christian, let Christians learn to make the most of their best calling. Let them value themselves as they are Christians, and value others as they are Christians, not as they are rich or poor, noble or great: “The fashion of this world passeth away.” Value people by what they have of eternity. How much of the Spirit is in them? How much of the image of God is in them? What grace is in them? Are they born again? Are they truly noble? Are they new creatures? Value them by that, and work to get that stamped on our children and on our friends. Seek to have such communion with those we love that we may have eternal communion with them in heaven. Seek to enjoy our friends in such a way that our friendship may continue in heaven, considering that “the fashion of this world passeth away.” All friendship, all bonds, all possessions, and everything we dote on and are desperately mad about, all of it passes away: “The fashion of this world passeth away.”

It is a strange thing, beloved, that a man capable of high and excellent thoughts should spend the marrow of his soul and the strength of his spirits on these things. It is strange that he should wear out his spirits, crack his conscience, and wear out his life over things he cannot tell how long he will enjoy, and neglect the things that last forever. For any man this is bad. But for “brethren,” as Paul says, for “brethren” to do this, who have an immortal inheritance; for those who are the children of God and heirs of heaven to be thrown off their balance by every cross and every loss: what a shame it is that Christians are so much in joy and so much in sorrow over these things! It comes from these causes.

1. They do not consider and look on things as already past. They do not look at things with the eye of faith, which says, “These things will pass.” Instead they look at things while they are passing, and for the present they see no change. They should consider, “Yes, but what sentence lies on them? They are as good as past already; they will be gone before long.” Look on them, therefore, as things already past. We are dead; our friends are dead; and the world is gone. Faith says this. We do not consider this “Yes, but,” and so we are carried away with these things. We look at things while they are passing, and then we see little change. A man who watches the shadow moving cannot see it move, but if he comes back two or three hours later, he will see that it has passed. Let us look on things as gone. Though they are not gone yet, see them so with the eye of faith, and that will make us regard them as “passing away.”

2. Again, we are deceived about the passing of the things of this life because we do not compare them with eternity. We think it a great matter to enjoy things for twenty or forty years. What is this point of time compared with eternity? Compare this short time here, of health and strength, of honor and position and friends: what is it compared with eternity? What desperate folly it is to risk the loss of eternity for the enjoyment of these things! Compare these things with “world without end” (Eph 3:21), and that will keep us from being deceived by these passing things. We are deceived because we do not lay them in the balance against the things that are forever.

3. And then the third cause is that we are forgetful. We are not mindful of our best condition, and we do not make the use of our knowledge that we might. When a Christian is all in a passion, all joy, all fears, or all grief, what is the matter with him at that moment? What thoughts does he have of his eternal estate, or of the fading condition of these things? He is forgetful and mindless. Let us therefore labor often to keep our souls in a heavenly frame.

And to draw to a conclusion, let us learn to value ourselves. If we are Christians, as we all profess to be, let us value ourselves. It shows a poverty of spirit for a Christian to rejoice too much or grieve too much over anything that is worse than himself. And are not all things here worse than ourselves, if we are Christians indeed? If we are not Christians, then the very toads and serpents are better than blaspheming and filthy creatures who oppose God’s ordinances. They are better than such wretches, as many among us are. The devil is almost as good as they are; such people are next to the devil. The earth they tread on is better than they are. But if a man has grace in him, all the world is beneath him. What weakness of spirit it is, then, and what emptiness, to be overcome with excessive grief and sorrow over anything below that is meaner than ourselves, over anything that fades, when we have a condition that is not subject to fade!

Therefore think often of our dignity in Christ. Think of the motive here, “brethren”; think of that as well as of the fading condition of things here. If we want to wean ourselves from these things, let us think often of the eternal estate of a Christian, so that our thoughts may run much on that, and then of the frail condition of all things below, so that we may be taken off from them. For two things mortify a man: taking his affections off what they are set on, and setting them on what will fill and satisfy them to the full. If a man does that, he does what a mortified man should do, one who is in this world passing on to a better.

To conclude everything with this: all things here in this world serve a further end. Let us take care, therefore, to use them in such a way that we do not lose the main thing.

All the comforts of a traveler along the way serve his journey’s end. If things go wrong at his inn, will he quarrel with his host because he does not have a soft bed? He will think, “I am on my way; I will have better at home, and these things are leading me homeward.” So all things below are helps serving something better. Shall we make them the main thing? Shall we make everything serve them, as worldly people do, making religion serve worldly things and turning everything upside down? Such people do not grieve as if they grieved not; instead they hear as if they did not hear. They receive the sacrament as if they did not receive it. They pray as if they did not pray. They speak of holy things, and do them, as if they did not do them. But in other things they are drowned. This is Satan’s policy: he labors to make religion serve other ends. So if a man can be religious and keep the favor of this or that person, if he can be religious and still be great in the world, he will be. But if religion itself, and standing up for it, hinders his aims, away with it! Such men would rather be hollow than stand for a good cause, because they have not learned to make things serve the main end. And the reason is that they do not have the grace and heavenly wisdom to teach them what place things should be valued in, what the main thing is, and what only attends on the main thing. So they take side matters for the main thing, and the main thing for a side matter. Indeed, no one is wise but a sound Christian. He is wise for his soul, and he is wise for eternity.

But what does this have to do with the sacrament? To cut other matters short, it is this. Are these things perishing food, things we must leave, vain and empty things? Will this not therefore make us seek the main thing, the food that endures to everlasting life? Will it not make us labor to be in Christ more and more, and labor to cherish communion with Christ, that everlasting bond? What is the sacrament but the food of our souls, our everlasting manna, which will continue forever and make us continue forever? If we have Christ, he continues forever, and he makes us continue forever too. And so, considering that everything else is vain, I beg you, let the consideration of what has been said be like the “sour herbs” of the Passover, to make Christ taste all the sweeter.

Oh! Are all things vain, and shall I not labor to have my part in what will never die, in him who is my husband forever and my Lord forever? Shall I not labor to strengthen my interest in him who has all good things in him? What if all the earth should fail? If I have communion with Christ, I have everything. If I marry Christ, I have everything with him. Everything is settled on me as my marriage portion once I have Christ: All things are yours, if you are Christ’s (1 Cor 3:21-23). If I have Christ, what can I lack? Let this strengthen my desire to come to the sacrament.

Christ is the food of the soul. With all other food, the sweetness is gone within a quarter of an hour. The sweetness of all the other food we take is gone at once, and its strength within a day or two. But this food, Christ, the food of the soul, Christ offering himself to death, pouring out his blood, and giving his body to be crucified for us, this food feeds our souls to everlasting life. In it we cherish our faith in the assurance of God’s favor forever. The sweetness, the strength and the comfort of this food endure forever. Therefore, considering that all other things are food that perishes, labor for what will feed us to everlasting life. Then we will make a right use of the alteration and change of all things.

A heathen can say this text, setting aside “brethren.” A heathen could tell you, “The glory of the world passes away,” and “The fashion of things passes away.” He sees these things, and from them he could infer the negative part: therefore we should not be worldly. By the light of nature, a man who has no religion may be sound in that, and so not care much for earthly things, considering that we must be gone.

A heathen could speak very sweetly along these lines, as Plutarch and Seneca and the rest did. What fine speeches they made on this theme! Oh, but the positive part, that is, when we see that all things here are vain and fading, to know what we must cling to: that belongs to religion alone. To know Christ, and the good we have by Christ; to know that when we have him we have everything, and that he is the food of our souls: these things belong to religion. Therefore let us rise from considering the vanity of all things to the positive part, and secure our own interest in what is better than all things. If we have that, we have everything, and then we will make a right use of this.

Therefore let no man glory in men: for all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s (1 Cor 3:21-23).

One person is prone to idolize another and to set him up in his soul higher than is fit, and this is never without great danger and detraction from the honor of Christ. Out of love for the good that is in others whom they revere too much, people take in the bad along with it, and all. We are very prone to this fault when we look too much to persons who are subject to the same weaknesses as ourselves. That is why the apostle is so careful in this chapter to humble man at the beginning of this twenty-first verse: “Let no man glory in men”; that is, so far as to depend on them in matters of faith.

This, therefore, is the apostle’s main aim in this place: to cut off faction and too much dependence on men. Some vainglorious teachers had crept into the consciences of the people (as is their custom) and drew factions after them, and so set themselves up in place of Christ. To prevent this, the apostle says, “Let no man glory in men.” Do not glory in your teachers; they are only your servants and Christ’s servants, “for all things are yours.” Through those vainglorious teachers the people had grown divided and had begun to set up one and cry down another. To remedy this, the apostle says, “All things are yours”: whether Paul, meaning himself, or Apollos, another excellent man, yes, even Cephas, Peter himself. Paul with all his learning, Apollos with his eloquence, Peter with his intensity of spirit: what each one is and what each one has, all his endowments, are for the good of the church.

So here we have, first, a warning: “Let no man glory in men.” Then a reason for it: “For all things are yours.”

He sets down the reason first wholesale, as a whole: “All things are yours.”

And then he parcels it out, as it were, by retail: “whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come.” And so, by going through the particulars, he lays open and unfolds this tapestry, so that they may see the riches of this “all.” Then he wraps it all up again: “all are yours.” Those things that I have named are yours; indeed, even things that are most unlike each other, “life and death are yours.” Why should we doubt about other things, when death is ours? He who has the power of death, the devil, is not excluded; he is ours.

Here there is also a gradation: “All is ours.” Is there a full stop there? No. “We are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” The gradation runs both upward and downward. God descends to us. The “all” comes from the Father, and from Christ the Mediator, to man, and for man’s sake to the creatures. The gradation upward again is, “We are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” This makes a blessed chain, a linking together of things from the wise and great God. All things hang on him and are carried back to him again; and as they come from one, so they end in one. As a circle begins and ends at one point, so all comes from God and ends in God.

In the reason we have “the charter of a Christian,” the dowry the church has by her marriage with Christ. He is the greatest king who ever was, and she is the greatest queen; for Christ is Lord of heaven and earth and of all things, and her estate is as large as his. “All things are yours,” even from God down to the poorest thing in the world. God makes himself over to his children: he is theirs; Christ is theirs. Therefore the angels are theirs, for the angels ascend and descend on Jacob’s ladder, that is, Christ.

Having set down this general statement, “all things are yours,” to discourage them from glorying in men, he divides that general into particulars: “Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or life, or death…”

1. All persons are yours.

2. All things are yours.

3. All events are yours.

Persons: “Paul, Apollos, Cephas.”

Things: “The world, or life, or death.”

Events: whatever can come, at present or in time to come, “all is yours.”

As for persons: “Paul, Apollos, Cephas are yours.” Therefore Peter is not the head of the church. He is named here in the third place, among the rest and after the rest: “Whether it be Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, he is yours.” You know who ground their whole religion on this: that Peter is the head of the church, and that they are Peter’s successors. But Peter is the church’s, and therefore he cannot be its head and commander. The pope claims to be Peter’s successor, and yet he will be head of the church. But you see that Cephas is a servant of the church, as well as Paul and Apollos. You see his hypocrisy, by the way. He will call himself the servant of the servants of God, as if he would uphold this blessed saying: “Cephas and Paul are servants of the church, and so am I, who am Peter’s successor.” Yet he stamps on his coin, “That nation and country that will not serve thee shall be rooted out.” And so, while he claims to be the servant of servants, he will be lord of lords. He tyrannizes over the church and overthrows this text, which says, all things are for the church, and we must glory in no man, so as to let him be the author of our faith in anything. That man of sin and his adherents, the faction of Rome, wrong the church in two ways especially.

1. Out of their own heads, without Christ, the head of the church, they have ordained a world of idle ceremonies, which they will have to have supernatural effects and to confer grace.

2. And then, they make laws to bind the conscience without reference to Christ, and their traditions must have the same authority as the word of God. So they sit in the temple of God, and that is the reason popery prevails so much. In truth, however, no man is lord of another man’s faith. The chiefest men in the world are only servants of the church: Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas. “The woman must not usurp authority over the man” (1 Tim 2:12), nor must the church be above Christ.

To go on: not only all persons, but the whole world is the church’s: the natural world, the civil world, and the ecclesiastical world.

(1) The natural world is the church’s; that is, the frame of heaven and earth. All things are made for man, and he is made for God. As a wise philosopher could say, man is the end of all things in a semicircle; that is, all things in the world are made for him, and he is made for God. The world is ours; all things in the world are our servants. For they mourn in black, as it were, for our miseries since the fall, and in our restoring they will be restored again. They wait for the day, as it says in Romans 8:21, “For the glorious liberty of the sons of God.” They have their happiness and misery together with men. The world stands for the sake of the elect. If all the elect were gathered out of the world, there would be an end of all things; all would immediately be in confusion.

(2) And so for the civil world: all states are for the church. The commonwealth is for the church. Therefore St. Paul bids us pray for kings and princes. Why? “That under them we may live a godly and peaceable life” (1 Tim 2:2). If it were not for the gathering of the church, God would take little care for commonwealths. They stand because the church is mingled with them. Take the church away from the commonwealth, and what is it but a company of men who make the world their god? Kingdoms and commonwealths are only inns and harbors for the church. Though they despise the church and regard it as Christ was regarded, as a stranger whom they will not acknowledge, yet those few despised ones are nevertheless the substance of the kingdom. God intends the church as the part of the world that counts, though men do not think so. The rest, who are not the church, are for the church. As we say of a field of wheat that the plowing, the rain, the stalk, the ear, the husk, all is for the wheat, so the standing of the world, its government, and the abilities and gifts of men are all for the church, to do it good. If it were not for the service they owe to the church, they would not continue.

(3) And in the church, all that is good is for the elect’s sake. As we stand under Christ with great titles, ambassadors and the like, so we stand toward the church as servants. “We preach ourselves servants for Christ’s sake” (2 Cor 4:5). “Let a man esteem of us as of the ministers of Christ” (1 Cor 4:1): no greater and no less, but as the ministers of Christ. Persons and ministry, calling and gifts, all are for the church, as is set out at large in Ephesians 4:11 and the verses following: when he ascended up on high, he “gave some to be apostles, some pastors,” all for the good of the church. “I suffer all for the elect’s sake,” says St. Paul (2 Tim 2:10). Therefore the argument holds very well: we should not glory in the ministers, nor in any creature. They are for us. But if a man will glory, let him glory in him who has made all things his, that is, in Christ.

(4) Further, the world is ours, take it in the worst sense: the world of wicked men, all their plots, and the “prince of the world” are the church’s. How can this be? He and all his instruments are under the command of the One who turns all his designs contrary to his own intention. This is a hell to Satan, and one of the chief torments he has: that as his malice is above his power, so God overpowers him in his power. God outshoots him with his own bow. Whatever he designs against Christ the head, and against his members the church, is overturned for the good of the church. In the apostles’ times some were “given over to Satan, that they might learn not to blaspheme” (1 Tim 1:20). It is a strange thing that Satan, who is the author of blasphemy, should teach men not to blaspheme. Yet as a consequence of his afflicting their bodies, they came to be wise, and learned to be moderate and sober, to be Christian-minded, and not to blaspheme. So the prince of the world is ours in this way, by an overruling power that turns all to good against his intentions. For there is only one great monarch in the world; every kingdom is under a higher kingdom. There is only one to whom all are subject. There is one great wheel that turns all the others. And therefore Satan himself serves God’s end, whether he will or not.

And then as for the world of wicked men, all their designs, though for the present they seem to be against the church, still serve the church. For wicked men are only the church’s launderers, to wash the church, to purge it, to do the base services that God intends for refining the church. And all their hatred is for the good of the church. For God permits the world to hate his children so that his children might not love the world, because that would be a dangerous love. The church is a strange corporation; it is the kind of corporation that gains the greatest benefit from its enemies. The enemies of the church are the promoters of the church’s greatest good. The very world is the church’s, take it in the worst sense, as the wicked world that lies in mischief. But I will not dwell on that. To go on.

As with all things in general, so life especially is the church’s. Why does God prolong the life of good pastors and good people, except that they may be blessed instruments to convey truth to posterity? As St. Paul says in Philippians 1:23-24, it is for your sake that I am not with Christ. It were best for me to be dissolved, and to be with Christ, by a great deal; but for your sake, for your good, I must remain still. So it is with the life of pastors and good Christians, from communion with whom we receive benefit. For their own part it would be best for them to be in heaven, to be gathered to the church triumphant, to their friends, to Christ, to the saints, to the souls of just men made perfect; there is no question of it. But for the church’s sake they are made to go without their glory for a time. Paul was content to be without the joys of heaven for a while, to go without his crown of glory, in order to live in the church and do good. So the life of other able and worthy men is for the church, and it is a calamity for the church when God takes them away.

And so the life of good magistrates is for the benefit of the church. It would be better for them to be in heaven. But as it is said of David in Acts 13:36, “He served God in his own generation,” so every magistrate has his generation, his allotted time, a generation in which to stand up in church and state and to serve God, and then God takes him away.

And then our own life is ours while we live with a view to a better life (for all must be understood with a view to happiness), which is the only life. This present life is nothing but a shadow, yet in this life we have a world of advantage for gaining assurance of a better one. This life, indeed, is only a little spot of time between two eternities, before and after, but it is of great consequence. It is given to us to gain a better life in, so that glory may be begun in grace, and that we may have a further and further entrance into the kingdom of heaven here, as Peter says (2 Pet 1:11).

Again, life is ours because the time we live here is a seedtime. This life is given to us to do a great many good things in, and their crop and harvest is reserved for the world to come; and when we have done the work that God has given us to do, we are gathered to our fathers.

And life is a special benefit, because by the advantage of life we add to our reckonings after death. The longer a good Christian lives, the larger his good accounts are, and the more he sows to the Spirit. It is therefore a blessed thing for a godly man to live long, for a good man to be an old man. All his sins are wiped away; they will never be laid to his charge. He may say that he has lived long and sinned a long time, yet his sins are forgiven, and all his good deeds will be on record and set down to his credit, even to “a cup of cold water” (Matt 10:42), and he will be rewarded. There is not a sigh, not a tear, that is not registered.

The longer a man lives, even if he should live Methuselah’s days, the richer he will be in good works; and the richer he is in good works, the larger his part and share in glory afterward. The longer he lives, the happier are the times in which he lives, for a good man makes the times happy, and it is happier for himself. The richer he is in good works, the richer he will be in glory afterward, and the heavier his crown and his reward will be in heaven. The larger his seedtime has been, the richer his harvest will be.

Use. Since these things are so, we should bless God and be very thankful that he grants us this life; for besides the opportunity of doing good, it is a preparation for a better one. This life is, as it were, the seedbed of heaven. Heaven is indeed the true paradise of all the plants of God, but they must have a seedbed to be planted in first; and therefore the church is called the kingdom of heaven, because we are first planted here. Therefore we should bless God for this life, and not wish ourselves dead out of grumbling, but in submission yield ourselves up when God wills. Oh, this life is a blessed time! It is our seedtime. The longer we live, the more opportunity we have to do good, to grow in grace, to do good to others, and to enlarge our own accounts and reckonings to the end. The next thing to speak of is death.

“Or death.”

He does well to join these two together, for if life is not ours for good, death will never be ours. Whoever does not make good use of life never has death for his comfort; instead of an entrance into heaven, it will be a trapdoor to hell. But if life is ours, and we have made blessed use of it, then death also will be ours. And “blessed are they that die in the Lord” (Rev 14:13).

It is a strange thing that death should be ours, a destroying thing, hostile to nature; the king of fear, as Scripture calls it (Job 18:14); that terrible of all terribles, as the philosopher says; “the last enemy,” as Paul says (1 Cor 15:26). Death is ours in many ways. It is a piece of our jointure, the estate settled on us in marriage, for these words contain the jointure of the church. The church is Christ’s spouse. All things are Christ’s, and therefore all things are the spouse’s; and among the other particular gifts given to the church, death is one.

But in the gospel this death is turned into another thing. It is a harmless death. The sting is pulled out. It has lost all its venom in Christ. What is malignant and hurtful in death is taken away. What is the poison and sting of death? It is sin. Now that is forgiven in Christ. But it is not enough for God’s bounty that death should not hurt us. No; it is ours; it tends to our benefit in many ways.

First, it strips us of these rags, these sick, weak, and troublesome bodies of ours that cause so much disquiet to our souls, these mud walls. It takes down the tabernacle; it puts off our old rags and puts on a new robe of immortality and garments of glory. It ends all that is evil. All comes to its end in death. It is the last evil. It puts an end to all our labors, to all our troubles and sorrows. Then the cursed labor of all our sins (which are the cause of sorrow) will have an end. “Blessed are they that die in the Lord, they rest from their labors” (Rev 14:13). There is no rest until we are dead. Death is the completion of our mortification.

And there is an end of the labor and toil in our callings, and of the miseries and afflictions that accompany them. It frees us from all labors whatever. For death is a sleep, and all labors end in sleep. And as after sleep the spirits are refreshed, so after death we are more refreshed than we can now conceive. Death is ours because it is our resting place. After our bodies are weary and worn out with toiling, then comes death, and then we rest in our graves.

It frees us from wicked men and sets us clear out of Satan’s reach. This world is the kingdom of Satan, but when we are gone from here, he has nothing to do with us. Sin brought in death, and now death puts an end to sin. We will no longer be troubled by Satan or his temptations, which is a great privilege.

And then death is a passage to another world. It is the gate of glory and everlasting happiness. It is the beginning of all that is good, of what is everlastingly and eternally good. Our death is our birthday. Indeed, death is the death of itself; death is the death of death. For when we die, we begin to live, and we never truly live until we die. For what is this life? Alas, it is a dying! Every day we live, a part of our life is taken away. We die every day (1 Cor 15:31). The more we have lived, the less of our life we have left to live.

The life in heaven begins at death. Death is the birthday of that life of immortality, and that is the only life that can truly be called life. When Christ came to purchase life by dying, it was not this sorry life on earth, but the life in the world to come, that life of immortal glory; and the day of death is the birthday of this life. And as for our bodies, they are only refined by death, and made fit, like vessels cast into the fire to be molded, to be most glorious vessels afterward.

Death is ours in every way. It is our greatest friend under the mask of an enemy. So whatever Satan may suggest to the contrary, death is ours: our friend that was our enemy, a good thing that was an evil. In a temptation our imagination may make us see things that are useful and good as terrible and evil, and things that are truly dangerous to us as if they were the only good. Satan abuses our imagination by magnifying the good of evil and the evil of good. But in truth, death, and all that makes way for it, sickness and misery, are ours; they do us good; they fit us for heaven. Sickness fits us for death; it loosens the soul from the body. As for the profits and pleasures and honors of the world, what do they do? They nail us faster to the world and do us harm.

Therefore, death is ours. It is a good messenger; it brings good tidings when it comes. That is why the wise man says, “The day of death is better than the day of birth” (Eccl 7:1). When we are born, we come into misery; when we die, we go out of misery into happiness. It is better to go out of misery than to come into it. If the day of death is better than the day of birth for a Christian, then certainly death is theirs. It makes a short end of all that is miserable, and it is the starting point from which all good begins. There is nothing in the world that does us as much good as death. It ends all that is evil in both body and soul, and it begins the happiness that will never have an end.

Therefore, “blessed are they that die in the Lord, saith the Spirit” (Rev 14:13). “A voice from heaven” says so, and therefore, “Write,” he says. It may well be written down if the Spirit says it; that is testimony and argument enough. “Blessed are those that die in the Lord: they rest from their labors; and their reward follows them.” For they rest from all that is evil, and from that only. As for all that is good, “their works follow them.” So if all evil ceases and all good follows, I hope death may well be said to be ours, and for our good.

Use. If death is ours, and all that makes way for death, sickness and the like, with their curse taken away and a blessing hidden in them in its place, then why should we start and be too much frightened at the message of death, as if it were such a terrible thing? Why should we be afraid of what is a part of our portion? Why should we be afraid of what is friendly to us and does us so much good? What! To be a Christian who lives in the household and family of faith, and yet to lack faith so far as not to believe in the glorious estate after death, or to think that it is not his, or that death does not let him into it!

Nature will be nature, and death is a dissolution, and so the enemy of nature, the last enemy. Therefore nature cannot help being frightened by death in some measure. But then grace and the Spirit of God in his children should rise above nature, and cause them to look beyond death to that happy condition which death puts them in possession of. Death is like the Jordan. We go through its waters and waves to Canaan, the land of promise and happiness. Faith would let us see this, and so grace would subdue nature, though nature will have its bout with the best of us, death being the terrible of terribles and the king of fear, as I said before. Therefore I do not say this so that we should be unfeeling, but so that we may see how far the meditation of these things, of this blessed prerogative and this one part of our charter, should strengthen us.

I urge you, therefore, let us lay this up against those dark times when death will be presented to us as an ugly and grim thing. It is so to nature, indeed, but to faith death has become lovely. Indeed, as I said, there is nothing in the world that does us as much good as death, for it is the best physician. It cures all diseases whatever, of soul and body. And indeed, to close this point, death is the death and destruction of itself, for after death there is no more death. It consumes itself. By death we overcome death. We can never die more (Rom 6:9). We are freed from all death. Therefore, to be afraid of death is to be afraid of life, to be afraid of victory; for we never overcome death until we die. Lay up these considerations against the time of need. When death comes, a whole world of grief will flow together, when conscience, being guilty of sin, will be arraigned before God; when there will be sickness and diseases of the body, and the loss of all the comforts and employments of the world. They will all meet in one center, in one point, at death. But a man needs to gather the greater comfort against that hour; and what will comfort us then? There is a sweet comfort in Romans 8:38-39, that neither life, nor death, nor things present, nor things to come, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ. It is a sweet comfort that nothing will separate us; but this is a greater comfort, that death is ours. Death will not only not separate us from God and from happiness, but it will bring us into nearer communion with God and Christ. For it is a separation that brings about a nearer union: the separation of soul and body brings about the union of the soul with Christ for the present, and afterward an eternal union of soul and body in this blessed enjoyment of him. Now, blessed be God for Jesus Christ, who in him has made even death, the bitterest thing of all, sweet to us.

“Or things present.”

Whatever is present, good or ill. The good things present are ours, for our comfort in our pilgrimage and passage toward heaven. God is so good to his children that he not only reserves happiness for them in another world, but even the very gallery and passage to heaven along the way is comfortable. Things present are theirs. They may enjoy them with comfort; they have liberty to use all things for refreshment. “All things are pure to the pure” (Titus 1:15). “Every creature of God is good, so it be received with thanksgiving and prayer” (1 Tim 4:4). We have liberty to use them, but it must be with prayer and thanksgiving. Though a man has a liberty and right to anything, yet he must sue it out; there must be some process at law to put him in possession. So, though we have a freedom to “present things,” there must be something to make a sanctified use of them. We must go to God by grace to use them well; all must be sanctified by prayer and thanksgiving.

And as with good things, so ill things present are ours. Afflictions are ours, because they fit us for a happier state. They exercise what is good in us and mortify what is ill. They are sanctified to subdue what is ill, to increase what is good, and to make us more capable of glory. Who is so capable of glory as the one who has been afflicted in this world? To whom is heaven truly heaven but to the man who has led an afflicted life, a course of conflict with the world and his own corruptions? Heaven is a place of happiness indeed to him. Therefore evil things are ours, because they sweeten the happiness to come and make us both more capable of it and more desirous of it. So both good and evil things present are ours. Since God governs the world, and all things come from him as from a father, nothing will come to us for the present but what he means to guide for our good.

Use. Therefore we should take them thankfully at God’s hands. “In all things be thankful” (1 Thess 5:18). In all things rejoice (Phil 4:4). For evil, though it is grievous for the time, yet has “the quiet fruit of righteousness” (Heb 12:11). It quiets the soul afterward, in the good we have by it. There are various good things that we never have except by evil. No man yet could ever say he had patience except by suffering. So things present, whether good or ill, are ours, to help us in the state of grace and to fit us for the state of glory. But the greatest difficulty is in “things to come.”

For what assurance do we have of things to come? Yet “things to come are ours,” whether they are good or evil.

For good things: the remainder of our life is ours, to do good in. Death is to come, and that is ours. And judgment is ours; for our Brother, our Head, our Savior and our Husband, he will be our judge; and on the day of judgment “we shall judge the world” (1 Cor 6:2). And then, after judgment, heaven is ours; immortality and eternity are ours; communion with the blessed company in heaven is ours. “All is ours” then.

Indeed, the best is to come. For if we had nothing but what we have in this world, “we were of all men most miserable” (1 Cor 15:19). Alas! What do we have, if only things present are ours? But the best is yet to come. That for which Christ came into the world is yet to come. What he enjoys in heaven is ours. He will take his spouse where he himself is, into his own house, and he will complete the marriage, which is begun in the betrothal, and then “we shall be for ever with the Lord” (1 Thess 4:17). “The things to come” are the main things, the things our faith lays hold on. What we raise ourselves up and comfort ourselves by is chiefly the things to come, especially the promises of happiness and glory, and of exemption and freedom from all ill. Whatever is to come is ours, and ours for eternity.

Indeed, here I am swallowed up; I cannot unfold to you what is ours in that sense. For “if neither eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard, nor hath entered into the heart of man to conceive, what God hath prepared for his children in this world” (1 Cor 2:9), that is, peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Spirit, how can we conceive here of the glory that is to come? Indeed, one must be in heaven to conceive of it. It is part of heaven to know these things; and therefore the full knowledge of them is deferred until that time, when we come there.

And evil things to come are ours also. They cannot do us harm; they cannot “separate us from Christ” (Rom 8:35). Nothing in time to come will be able to harm us by loosening that blessed union between our soul and Christ. As St. Paul says, triumphantly and divinely, in that heavenly discourse of his toward the end of that chapter (Rom 8:38-39), nothing shall separate us from Christ; neither life, nor death, nor things present, nor things to come. We have the word of God for it, that nothing to come shall hinder us. Whatever is to come, however ill it may be, will further us, as the apostle says in the same chapter: “All things shall work together for the best to them that love God” (Rom 8:28). Therefore, if nothing to come can hinder us, and all things that are to come will further us, then all things to come must be ours. “We are kept by the power of God, through faith, to salvation” (1 Pet 1:5). Salvation is laid up for us, and we are kept through faith, by the power of God, to salvation. Therefore all things to come are ours.

It is a great comfort that nothing will separate us; no, not death itself. But this text affords an overflowing comfort beyond that: that death is ours. And being ours, it will not only not separate us from Christ, though it separates soul and body, but it will join us to him.

I beg you, take this as a thought that may help against the terror of that doleful separation of soul and body. It parts two old friends, but it joins better friends together, the soul and Christ.

Further, all things to come are ours, even all things in the largest sense, the bitterest of all things.

The very judgment of the wicked, and their eternal sentencing, belongs to the church. Why? It adds luster to God’s mercy in advancing his own (Rom 9:23). God magnifies his mercy to “the vessels of mercy” by punishing a company of reprobates, in whom he has no delight because of their sins. His mercy appears greatly by that, even by the eternal sentence and punishment of wicked men. So everything serves to set forth the glory and excellency of God’s people.

Use. The use the apostle chiefly intends is this: a Christian is as sure of the time to come as of the time past or present. We are sure of what we have had and of what we have; but a Christian is in so firm a condition and state that he may be sure of what is to come. For God and Christ are not only “Alpha” but “Omega” also; Christ is not only he who “was, and is,” but he who “is to come” (Rev 1:8). He is Jehovah, the same for ever (Heb 13:8). And therefore, as things past could not hinder us from being elected and called, and things present cannot hurt us but are ours, so it is with things to come. For God, and Christ, who is the mediator under God, has command of all things to come. And therefore we may be as sure of things to come as of things present. What a comfort this is to a Christian when he is reckoning what will become of him if times of trouble and public calamity should come! He immediately satisfies himself with this: come what may, all will be for the best; “all things to come are ours,” even all things whatsoever.

“All things are yours.”

But yet we must understand this within some limits. Therefore we will untie some knots and answer some cases.

Case 1. First, it may seem that there is no distinction of property, if all is a Christian’s.

Objection. If every Christian may say, “All is mine,” then what is one man’s is another’s, and there will be no property.

Answer. I answer, undoubtedly there is a distinction of property in the things of this life. “All is ours,” but in another sense. “All is ours” to help us to heaven; “all is ours” as ordered to our comfort and happiness; but as for ownership, all things are not ours in that way. For you know the distinction: some things are common by the law of nature, as the sun and air and many such things, and some by the law of nations. It is only some things that are common in this way. But then there are some things that are made private property by particular municipal laws.

The distinction is established both by the law of God and by the law of man (read Judg 11:12-20). Therefore, not to stand long in answering this question: the Scripture establishes the distinction of master and servant, and therefore it establishes the distinction of goods. The Scripture establishes bounty and alms. If there were no distinction of property, where would alms be? Solomon says, “The rich and the poor meet together: God is the maker of both” (Prov 22:2). He means not only as men, but as poor and rich.

If riches are of God, then the distinction of property is of God; for what are riches but a distinction of property? If God makes poor and rich, then there must be poor and rich. “The poor you have always with you” (Matt 26:11). Therefore the meaning of “All is yours” is this: all that we possess, and all that we need to help us, is ours in that order and ordering of things that may help us to heaven. And so the lack of things is ours, as well as the having of them. The very things a Christian lacks are his. Not only is the grace of contentment in want his, but when God takes away those things that are hurtful for him, that may hinder him in his course to heaven, that is his. It is a part of this portion not to have things, if God sees it good. The lack of things is a part of this “all.”

Objection. The passage so commonly alleged to the contrary, “All things were common” (Acts 2:44), is easily answered.

Answer. 1. For it was partly a matter of necessity. If all things had not been common then, they would all have been taken from them.

2. And then, it was a matter of choice also. “Was it not thine own?” says Peter (Acts 5:4). You were free not to part with it, if you so wished. It was a matter of choice, though it was common.

3. And then, all things were not common. Some good men kept their houses. Mary had her house (Acts 12:12).

4. And then, all things were common, but how? To be distributed as people needed; not for whoever would and could to snatch. They were common in such a way that they took care to distribute to everyone what he needed.

Case 2. Objection. Another case is this: all is the church’s, all is good people’s, and therefore if a man is wicked, nothing is his. There is a great point of popery grounded upon this mistake. For on this ground the Jesuit-minded papists say that the pope may excommunicate wicked princes with a view to spiritual things. He is lord and monarch of all; they are evil governors; nothing is theirs, all is the church’s.

Answer. But we must know that political government is not founded upon religion, as though a prince who is not religious were no king. It is founded upon nature and free election, so that the heathen, who have no religion, may yet have lawful government and governors, because government is not built upon religion. Where religion is not, government may yet be, and it is God’s appointment to uphold the world. So, let the king be anything or nothing in religion, he is a lawful king.

Objection. But it is further objected that they succeed Christ, and he was the Lord of the world, and they are the vicars of Christ; and therefore they may dispossess and invest whom they will.

Answer. But you must know that Christ as man had no government at all, but only Christ as God-man, as mediator; and in that respect he has no successor. That is incommunicable to any creature. Christ as man had no kingdom at all, for he says, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). And St. Augustine says well, “Surely he was no king that feared he should be a king.” For when they came to make him king, he withdrew himself and went away (John 6:15). And now Christ governs all things in the church. How? As God, as mediator, as God-man; not as man, but as God-man; and so he has no substitute. These are all vain, impudent claims, as if all were theirs because all is the church’s to dispose of; and the pope takes himself virtually to be the whole church.

“All things are ours.”

Case 3. Does this not hinder bounty? “It is mine, and therefore I do not owe any bounty to others,” as Nabal said: “Shall I give my bread, and my water, and refreshing…” (1 Sam 25:11). He leaned too heavily on the pronoun “mine.”

Answer. However much all that we possess is ours in law, yet in mercy it is often the poor’s, and not ours. The bonds of duty, both of humanity and of religion, are larger than the bonds of law. Suppose that in law you are not bound to do so; yet in humanity, and much more in Christianity, you are. What you have is the church’s and the poor’s, and not yours. It will be no plea on the day of judgment to say, “It was my own.” You may go to hell for all that, if you do not relieve Christ in his members. Therefore “all things are ours” now, not to hold on to all we have, but to use them as he who gives them wants them used. And when Christ calls for anything that is ours, we must give it.

And though we are not liable to human laws if we do not, yet we are liable to God’s law; and alms and works of mercy are justice in God’s account, for we ought to be merciful to Christ’s people. And in the royal law, the works of love and mercy are justice, and we withhold good from its owners if we are not merciful. For in religion the poor, who by God’s providence are cast on us to be provided for, have a right, and what we keep back from them is theirs. And therefore, as St. Ambrose says very well, “If you have not nourished one, though in the law you are not a murderer, yet before God you are.” Not to relieve the poor is a breach of that law, “Thou shalt not steal” (Exod 20:15). The very denial of relieving alms is theft in God’s esteem. And therefore, though “all is ours,” yet it is ours in such a way that we must be ready to part with it when Christ in his members calls for it; for then it is not ours.

Case 4. Again, here is another question: if all is ours, we may use liberty in all things, in whatever way and however we please, because all is ours.

Answer. I answer: the following are good conclusions from this. “All is ours,” and therefore we may use any good creature of God with thankfulness. “All is ours,” and therefore we should not be scrupulous about the creatures; we should not superstitiously single out one creature from another, as if one were holier than another. “All is ours,” and therefore we may use God’s bounty with a good conscience. But we must not on this basis presume to use things as we please because “all is ours.” There is a difference between a right and the use of that right. God’s children have a right to what God gives them, but they do not have the use of that right at all times; at least it may be suspended. For example, this is so in case the laws forbid the use of this or that for the public good of the nation. It is so also in case of scandal. A man has a right to eat or not to eat; but if this eating “offend his brother,” he must suspend the use of his right.

“Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat,” says St. Paul, “asking no question” (1 Cor 10:25); that is, freely take all the creatures of God without scruple. “For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof” (Ps 24:1). God, out of his bounty, spreads a table for all creatures, and for men especially. “The eyes of all things look up unto thee, and thou givest them meat in due season” (Ps 145:15-16). “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” Make no scruple, therefore. But mark: in 1 Corinthians 10:28 he restrains the use of that liberty upon the same text of Scripture: “But if any man say, This is offered to an idol,” and takes offense, “eat not, for his sake that showed it, and for conscience sake,” until he is better satisfied. “For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”

Question. Can the same reason serve for contraries?

Answer. Yes. That is, for yourself, when you are alone, take all things boldly. God does not begrudge your liberty. Take any refreshment; yet you need not eat “to offend your brother,” since God has given you a variety of creatures, even in abundance, and has not limited you to this or that creature. So the same reason answers both. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof”: use your liberty, then, when you are alone, and not to the scandal of your brother. “For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” Why should you use this creature as if there were no other but this? And therefore in case of scandal and offense we should suspend our liberty, though all is ours.

Again, though all is ours, yet we do not have a sanctified use of it except by the word and prayer. “Every creature of God is good, if it be received with prayer and thanksgiving” (1 Tim 4:4). His meaning is this: though we have a right to all things for our comfort, to help us to heaven, to cheer us on our way, to be as it were chariots to carry us, yet in the use of that right we must act in faith, so that we may apprehend our right and not use them with a scrupulous conscience; and we must sanctify them by prayer. We must take them with God’s leave.

A father gives his son all that he needs, and promises his son that he will lack nothing; but he will have his son seek to him and acknowledge him: “You will have everything, but I will hear from you first; you will have everything, but I will hand it to you from my own hand.” So God deals with his children. They have a right to all, but he hands it to them in the use of means. We must have a civil right by labor, or by contract, and so on, and then we must have a religious right by prayer. We must not pull God’s blessings out of his hands. For though he gives us a right to the thing, yet in the use of that right he will have us be holy men.

Case 5. If you ask, What is the reason that good men often fall into decay and have a great many crosses in the world?

Why, surely (not to enter into God’s mysteries) it is because when they have God’s blessings they do not sanctify them with prayer; they venture upon their right with scandal and offense to others.

Case 6. Again, “all things are ours.” Therefore truth, wherever we find it, is ours. We may read a heathen author. Truth comes from God wherever we find it, and it is ours; it is the church’s. We may take it from them as a just possession. There may be good use of those truths that they have, but we must not use them for display. For that is to do as the Israelites did: when they had gotten treasure out of Egypt, they made a calf of it, an idol. So we must not make an idol of these things. But truth, wherever we find it, is the church’s. Therefore we may make use of any human author with a good conscience. I thought it good to touch on this, because some make a scruple of it.

“All things are ours.”

Use 1. Now to make some use of this point, “all things are ours.” We see, then, that a Christian is a great man, a rich man indeed; and he alone is great and rich. It is only imagination and opinion that make any worldly man great. Can we say that all is his? No. A spot of earth is his, and not even that; for it is his only to use for a time. Before long he will be turned naked into the grave, and then he will be stripped of everything. But a Christian is a great man; though he is as poor as Lazarus, “all is his.”

Objection. But you will say these are great words, “all is his.” Perhaps he does not have a penny in his purse.

Answer. It is no great matter. God carries the purse for him; he is still under age, and not fit to take possession. He has much in promises; he is rich in bonds and title deeds. Again, let a Christian be ever so poor, others are rich for him. Solomon says there are some kinds of oppressing rich men “that gather for those that will be good to the poor” (Prov 28:8). God has given gifts to wicked men for the good of the church. They themselves are not the better for them; they lack the love and humility to make use of them. But all things are ours, what we lack as well as what we have. For it is good for us that we should lack them.

A man has riches when he has a spirit to do without riches. Is not the one who has a heart subdued by grace to be content to do without, richer than the one who has riches in the world? For outward things do not make a man one whit the better. But the one who has the Spirit of God to support him, so that he can submit to God, is truly rich. It is a man’s mind that makes him rich, not his purse. Now there is no child of God who is not master of all things. Though he is poor, he is master of riches, because he can do without them and be without them. Grace teaches him to be in want and to abound, as St. Paul says of himself, “through Christ that strengtheneth him” (Phil 4:13). He has grace to master poverty and whatever is ill, and to be content to be what God would have him be. In want he has contentment, and in suffering, patience.

I appeal to the conscience of any man who has a conscience: is it not better to lack temporal things, when we have a supply in grace, in faith, and so on, than to have great possessions as snares, which is what they are to a carnal heart? Is not a Christian better off in his wants than another in his possessions? Who would be as many great ones are, and always have been, though they are invested with much greatness, both of authority and of riches? Who would not rather choose the state of a Christian? Though he is poor, yet he has grace. Who would choose rather to be great without grace, and to be left by God to their corruptions, to abuse that greatness and those riches to their own destruction and the destruction of many others?

Therefore a Christian is a happy man, a great man, take him as you will; greater than the greatest man in the world who is without grace. For whatever that man has, he has with a curse, as God gave Israel a king in his wrath (Hos 13:11). You know what Moses says: “Cursed shalt thou be in thy blessings” (Deut 28:17). A man may have a great many things and be cursed in them. He does not say he will curse them with the lack of riches, so that they should be poor, but that he will curse them in their good things; they will have the vengeance of God with them. A Christian may lack these things, but he has the grace of God to do without them, and he has comfort here and assurance of better hereafter.

Therefore all things are his, even the worst, because all things have a command to do him good. All things have a prohibition against doing him harm. As David said of Absalom, do the young man no harm (2 Sam 18:5), so God gives all things a prohibition that they do his children no harm; indeed, they have a command, on the contrary, to do them good. If they do not do them good in one way, they do it in another; if they do not do it in their outward man, they do it in their inward. And God’s children find by experience that he draws them nearer to himself, both by having and by lacking these things. So though these things are not theirs in possession, yet they are theirs in use, or, as we say, by way of reduction. The worst things belong to God’s children. For God brings all things about to their good. And when God’s children are on the shore hereafter, past everything, and once set their foot in heaven, then they will see by what a sweet providence God guided it, that all things wrought for their good (Rom 8:28).

Question. But you will say that this or that particular thing is not mine, nor possessed by any of the saints.

Answer. Not all things are ours by possession; they are ours by some kind of use or other. We see, behold and meditate upon such things as are possessed by others, and exercise our thoughts profitably about God’s providence in disposing these things as he pleases; and by this we also stir up within ourselves the graces of patience, contentment and thankfulness for what we have. Thus what we do not possess may be ours, and its use may be better and more profitable to us than to those who possess it.

A Christian, therefore, I say again, is a great man, above other men. And this is the reason that carnal men, who have the spirit of the world in them, so bitterly envy and malign Christians. Secretly they think, “Certainly this man is greater than I am; there is something in him that I do not have.” A Christian is above other men and is able to judge them. He knows what they are: miserable even at their greatest heights. “The spiritual man is judged of none” (1 Cor 2:15). Men judge him poor and wretched, but it is a false judgment, for he is always truly rich and noble and happy. He passes a true judgment on them, but they cannot judge him, for he belongs to a rank of creatures above them. “The saints shall judge the world” (1 Cor 6:2). Those who are despised now will judge others before long; they will sit as fellow judges in judging the world.

No wonder wicked men secretly malign God’s people. The wicked cannot help judging them better and happier than themselves. As the life of grace is, by its very nature, a higher thing than the life of reason, so those who have a gracious spiritual life are in a rank of creatures above all other men in the world whatsoever.

We see, then, what a great man a Christian is. He is master of what he has, and of what he does not have. And is it not a wonderful prerogative that a Christian has, that whatever condition you turn him to, whether you raise him up or cast him down, kill him or spare his life, you cannot harm him? If you spare his life, this life is his; if you kill him, “death is his.” Kill him, save him, enrich him, make a beggar of him: his happiness is not at your command. There is a commanding power that rules all things for the good of God’s people. It is not at the disposal of any creature in the world, whether devils or men. God overturns and overpowers all, and all is and shall be theirs.

The state of grace is higher than any earthly condition; therefore it cannot be tainted or blemished by earthly things. Nothing that the senses suffer has power over reason, for reason is above sense. If a man is sick, he still has the use of his reason; if he is healthy, reason governs his health as well. No inferior thing can govern a superior. Let a man’s estate be what it will, grace will master it, because grace is a condition above it, a ruling, commanding condition.

Use 2. [1] What a comfort this is in all troubles, that God will sanctify all conditions to us, and us to them! Who would be disconsolate in any condition whatsoever? Who would be disconsolate to live, when he knows that life is his? If God had no good to do by his life, he would take him away. Who would grieve when death comes, when he knows that death is his? So a Christian may say, “If poverty, if disgrace is good for me; if the ordering of evil things will help me; if cross winds will blow me to heaven, I shall have them.” For the world and the miseries of the world, persecutions and afflictions, “all are ours.” The worst things are commanded to serve for our chief good. Therefore let us comfort ourselves. We cannot be losers by becoming religious and true Christians, for then “all things are ours.” He loses nothing who, by losing anything, gains all things.

[2] For grace: since “all things are ours,” this should teach us to use all things to the honor of him who has given us all things, not to be servants to anything, not to be subject to any creature, as St. Paul says of himself, “I will not be in bondage to anything” (1 Cor 6:12). Why? Because a Christian is master and lord over all. What a base thing it is for a man to be enthralled to such poor things! You have some, for instance, in bondage to a weed, tobacco. Some are in bondage to this passion and some to that, some to an idle custom. Think of a man who is like Rachel, “Give me my children, or I die” (Gen 30:1), and says, “I must have wealth, I must have pleasure, or else I cannot live.” Think of that wretched man Amnon, as you know, who pined away to have his will, and of Ahab, who pined away because he did not have what he wanted. Are these men masters? No. They bring themselves into slavery and subjection to the creature. Can they say with Paul, “All things are ours; things present or to come”? When they put themselves in subjection, they make those blessed souls of theirs slaves to their own servants, to things worse than themselves, things they trample on. If all things are ours, let us bring ourselves into subjection to nothing, but labor rather to have grace to subdue all things and use them to right ends.

Application 3. Again, this should increase in us the grace of thankfulness. Has God so enriched us? Has he made all things ours to serve our turn (in such a way as he counts service), so that whatever we have will help us to heaven and has a blessing in it? Even if it is sickness or want, it is ours and for our benefit. “Lord, do what you will, so long as you bring me to heaven. If you will have me poor, if it will do me good, let me be so. If you will have me abased, I am content; only sanctify it to bring me to heaven.”

How thankful we should be to God, who has placed us in this rank, who has put all things under us and made all things our servants! He was free to make us men or not, and when we were men, to make us Christians or not. But being made so, we are made lords over all. All things are put under our feet, since we are one with Christ, as in Psalm 8:6. When we think of this, our hearts should rise up to the Lord in thanks and say, as he does there, “Lord, how wonderful is thy name in all the world.”

Application 4. And fourth, it should teach us as a matter of judgment (though it is a shame for us to need teaching) that there is a God, and a wise God. There is a multitude, indeed a world, of things in the world, of different ranks and natures, evil and good and so on, and yet you see how one thing is disposed for another. The sun shines on the earth; the earth is fruitful for the beasts; the beasts serve man; and we are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. Where there are many things, and things that do not understand themselves, and yet there is subordination among them, there must be a wise God who made all things and sets all in this frame and order. And as this shows that there is a God, so it shows that this God is one, because all things tend toward one. There is a world of things, but all are for man. There is a world of Christians, but all are for Christ, and Christ is for God. Where there is a variety of things, and all are ordered to one, there must be one eternal, wise God.

It helps and establishes our faith in that grand point to know that there is a wise, understanding, gracious, powerful God, who rules and marshals all the creatures in a way they cannot do themselves. If there is order in things that have no understanding, surely the ordering of them must come from an understanding. The work of nature, as we say, is a work of intelligence. In bees, for example, a wonderful instinct is planted, and in other things too, but they do not understand it themselves. Therefore the work of the creature, being a work of understanding, must come from him who is a higher understanding and who orders these things.

If all these things, good and evil, creatures, states and conditions, serve God’s children, and they are for God, then certainly there is a wise God who orders these things out of goodness to us. And since we find all things ordered to us, we should order ourselves to God. If there is a God who has ordained a variety of things, and in his goodness has placed us in this rank of things so that all should be our servants, we ought to direct all our endeavors, all that we are and all that we can do, to the glory of this God. And this indeed is the disposition of all who can speak these words with any comfort: “All things are ours, Paul, and Apollos, magistrates, ministers, life, and death, things present or to come; all are ours.” Those who can speak these words with comfort are disposed in this way: finding all things theirs, they refer all to the glory of him who has made all things serviceable to them. But to proceed.

I come now to the next branch: “Ye are Christ’s.”

It pleases us well to hear that “all things are ours.” Yes, but we must also know that there is One above us to whom we owe homage, and from whom we have and hold all that we have. “Ye are Christ’s.” This is the tenure by which we hold all things: because “we are Christ’s.” Whatever tenure in chief may amount to among men (and you know more about that than I do), I am sure it is the best tenure in religion: “All is ours,” because “we are Christ’s.” We hold everything by that tenure. If we are not Christ’s, nothing is ours with comfort. “We are Christ’s,” and therefore “all is ours.”

Question. But what do you say, then, of those who are not Christ’s? Are the things they have not theirs, because they are not Christ’s? Do wicked men have nothing that may be called theirs?

Answer. I answer that they do. And it is too severe of some to say otherwise, claiming that wicked men are usurpers of what they have. They have a title, both a civil title and a title before God. God gave Nebuchadnezzar Tyre as a reward for his service, and God gives wicked men a title to what they have. And they will never be called to account at the day of judgment for possessing what they had, but for abusing that possession. Properly speaking, therefore, they are not usurpers as far as possession goes; but they will give an account of their abuse of God’s good bounty.

It is in this as it is with a king’s conduct toward a traitor. When a king grants a traitor his life, he gives him food and drink to maintain that life, by the same right by which he gives him his life. God will have wicked men live so long, to do so much good to the church. For not all who are not members of Christ, and who go to hell, are extremely wicked. There are many of excellent gifts and endowments whom God has appointed to do him great service. Though they have an evil eye and do not intend his service, but only to raise themselves in the world, yet God intends their service for great purposes. And he gives them encouragement in the world, for he will not remain in debt even to the worst men.

If they do him service, they will have their reward in that kind (Ps 62:12). If it is in matters of state policy, they will have it there; and they will have the commendation and applause of men, if they look for that. And if he does not give them heaven, they cannot complain, for they do not care for that; they did not do it with an eye to that. Now if God uses the labor and the industry and the gifts and endowments of wicked men for excellent purposes, he will give them their reward in outward things: “Verily, you have your reward,” says Christ (Matt 6:2).

Objection. But the apostle says, “All things are yours,” because “ye are Christ’s,” as if those who do not have Christ have nothing.

Answer. It is true that in some sense men who are out of Christ, who do not have his Spirit, have a title to what they have by virtue of a general providence. Yet they do not have a title as good and as full as a godly man, a Christian, has. They do not have this tenure of holding all things in Christ. Their tenure, therefore, is not as good or as comfortable, in three respects.

[1] First, they do not have them from the love of God in Christ. They have them from God and Christ as the governor and ruler of the world, who makes all things serviceable to the church. Therefore he gives these gifts even to wicked men, for the good of others, as the governor of the world; but he bestows them on his children out of love.

[2] And then, second, they do not have them from God as a Father in covenant. They have no title as children of God, which is how a Christian is the heir of the world. The firstborn was to have a double portion. A true Christian has a double portion: “all things are his” here, and heaven is his when he dies. “Things present are his” while he lives, and “things to come are his” when he departs this life.

[3] And then, third, with regard to the end, to wicked men these things do not further their salvation. They do not have them from God with grace to use them well. But as God’s children have them from his love, and from God as a Father in covenant, so they have them for their good. Wicked men have the gifts of God without God, that is, without the love and favor of God, as Bernard well says. But God’s children have the gifts of God with God too. Together with the gifts and good things from him, they have his favor, which is better than his gifts. For all the good things we enjoy in this world are but conduits to convey his favor.

God’s love and mercy in Christ are conveyed in worldly things. The same love that moved God to give us heaven and happiness in the world to come moves him to give us our daily bread. There is no difference in the love, just as the same love that moves a father to give his son his inheritance moves him to give him upbringing and necessities while he is under age. Here we are under age, and God allots us an estate accordingly; and from the same love by which he gives us these things, he gives us heaven afterward. Now wicked men do not have this full degree of title. Yet they have a title, as I said before, and they will never answer for possessing what they have, but for the wicked use of that possession.

Case 4. Again, to clear a little further one case I touched on before: if all things are ours because we are Christ’s, may we who are Christians use all things as we choose?

Answer. There is a fourfold restraint with regard to their use.

[1] There is, first, a restraint of religion. All things are ours as far as conscience is concerned: we may eat and drink and use any creature of God without scruple. Yet sometimes religion puts a restraint on this, so that it does not prejudice the worship of God. On the Lord’s Day we may refresh ourselves, but not so as to hinder the worship of God. Here a higher restraint is put on our liberty.

[2] And then, second, sobriety puts a restraint on our liberty. “All things are ours” in Christ; we must not, therefore, take liberty to exceed sobriety. It is a common saying that we all perish by lawful things. However much “all things are ours” for our use, we must still use them soberly and not exceed.

[3] And then, third, charity puts another restraint on it. Our use must be without offense to others. We must not think to have free use of what may offend others; in that case there is a restraint. Therefore St. Paul says, “I will never eat flesh whilst I live, rather than I will offend my brother” (1 Cor 8:13).

[4] And in the last place, there is the case of obedience. There is a restraint on “all things” we have, that is, on outward things. Though no man may meddle with the conscience, yet the magistrate may restrain this or that creature. “All things are ours” because we are Christ’s. This may satisfy some doubts.

Now to come more directly to this branch, to show how “we are Christ’s.” We are Christ’s in all the sweet terms and relations there can be. Name what you will, “we are Christ’s.” We are his subjects, as he is a king; we are his servants, as he is a lord; we are his pupils, as he is a prophet. If we take Christ as a head, we are his members; if we take Christ as a husband, we are his spouse; if we take Christ as a foundation, we are the building; if we take Christ as food, he incorporates us into himself; if we are temples, he dwells in us. There is no relation, nor any degree of subjection and subordination, that does not set forth this sweet union and agreement between Christ and us. So “Christ is ours” and “we are Christ’s” in all the sweet relations there can be. We are his members, his spouse, his children, for he is the “everlasting Father” (Isa 9:6). He is all that can be to us, and we are all that can be to him that is lovely and good.

But all these relations still fall short. They cannot fully set out the excellence and the truth and reality of this, that “we are Christ’s.” For what is a head to the body (which is one of the nearest relations)? Can the head bring a dead body to life? No. But Christ can. He can work in a dead member, in what is not a member, to make it one. Can a husband change his spouse? Moses could not. He married an Ethiopian woman, and he could not alter her disposition or her color. But Christ can alter his spouse. He is such a foundation as makes all “living stones.”

Therefore in John 17:21, because there is no kind of union in the world that can serve to set out the nearness we have to Christ, Christ says, “Father, I will that they may be one, as thou and I am one.” He sets it out by that incomprehensible union. He goes divinely above earthly things to set out the reality of this, how we are Christ’s and Christ is ours. We are Christ’s in the most intimate nearness there can be. Once we believe, we are Christ’s as nothing else in the world is.

Though all things are Christ’s, yet the church is Christ’s in a more special way. There is something unique in this, that we are Christ’s: we are in the nearest bonds, nearer to Christ than the very angels. For they are not the “spouse” of Christ; they are not the “members” of Christ. They are ministering spirits to Christ, and so to us. There is no creature under heaven, no, nor in heaven, that is Christ’s as we are. We are his “portion,” his “jewels,” his “beloved.” We are Christ’s in all the terms of nearness and dearness there can be.

And this nearness is mutual. We are Christ’s, and Christ is ours. He dwells in us and we in him. He abides in us, and we in him. He is in us as the vine is in the branches, and we are in him as the branches are in the vine. And as it is intimate and mutual, so it is eternal: we are Christ’s forever.

But to come more particularly: by what title are we Christ’s?

(1) The first title Christ has to us is the same as the title he has to all other things. All things are God’s and Christ’s by creation and preservation: all things consist in Christ.

(2) But, second, there is a nearer title than creation, namely, by gift. For the Father has given us to him. All who are God’s by election, he gave to Christ, to purchase them “by his blood.”

(3) And, third, he has a title to us by redemption. We cost him dearly. We are a spouse of blood to him (Exod 4:25), the price of his blood. He died for us. We could not be Christ’s unless he redeemed us out of the hands of our enemies. And God would have his justice satisfied, so that grace and justice might meet and kiss one another. God’s justice had to be satisfied before Christ would have us. For although there was a love of goodwill that gave us to Christ, yet until Christ redeemed us and made us his own, there was no love of friendship between God and us. So all friendship comes upon the title of redemption.

(4) Then, fourth, upon redemption, there is a title of marriage that Christ has to us. God, who brought Adam to Eve in paradise, brings Christ and us together.

(5) And we give consent on our part to Christ, as is done in marriage. He is our husband, and we give our consent to take Christ to be so, that he shall rule and govern us, and we take him for better, for worse, in all conditions.

Thus we see how Christ comes to be ours, and we come to be Christ’s. Now the points that arise from this branch, “And ye are Christ’s,” are these:

First, that “all things are Christ’s.”

Second, that “we are Christ’s.”

Third, that “all are ours, because we are Christ’s.”

The connection of the text is this: “All things are yours.” Why? Because “you are Christ’s.” How does that follow? Because all things are Christ’s. If all things were not Christ’s, and we Christ’s, the argument would not hold. So all are Christ’s first. All the promises are made to Christ first, and all good things are his first. All the “promises are yea in him” (2 Cor 1:20): they are made in him; and they are “amen”: they are performed in him. I need not dwell much on this. All things in the world are Christ’s, for he made all, as in Colossians 1:16, and he has reconciled all. All things are Christ’s, especially by the title of redemption, as he redeemed man. And indeed we could not be Christ’s unless Christ had subdued all things to himself. Unless he had possessed all good and subdued all that is evil, how could he have brought us out of the hands of our enemies?

Therefore in John 17:2 our Savior Christ speaks of the power that his Father had given him over all things. But this was in view of his resurrection. After his resurrection he says, “All power is given to me in heaven and earth” (Matt 28:18). Christ, as mediator, had a title to all things by virtue of the union. As soon as the human nature was knit to the divinity, there was a full title to all things. But it was not revealed, especially not until the resurrection was past, when he had accomplished the work of redemption.

He was also to ask: “Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thy possession” (Ps 2:8). God would not let his Son have anything (though he redeemed the church, and all things, in some sort) without asking. Shall anyone, then, think to have anything without prayer, when all things were conveyed to the Son of God by asking?

Further, Christ is the heir of the world (Heb 1:2). Therefore, all things must be his as the heir. This is a clear point, and I only mention it because it is connected with the truths I am now to speak of.

From this it comes that all things are ours, because Christ is ours. Christ is said “to be the firstborn of many brethren” (Rom 8:29), and “the first-begotten of every creature” (Col 1:15), and “the first-begotten from the dead” (Col 1:18). All these show the priority of Christ: that Christ is first, that he should have the preeminence in all things. For Christ is the prime creature of all; he is God’s masterpiece. That is the reason nothing can be ours unless it is Christ’s first. He is the “first-begotten of every creature,” both as God and as man. He is the “first-begotten” because he is more excellent in order and dignity than any other whatsoever. So too he is the “first-begotten from the dead,” “the first fruits” of them that sleep, because all who rose, rose by virtue of him. From this it follows that we can have nothing good unless we have it in Christ first.

Use 1. Therefore, to make a right use of this, we must know that whatever privilege we consider ours, we ought to see in Christ first. Our election is in Christ first: he is chosen to be our head. Our justification is in Christ first: he is justified and freed from our sins, which were laid to his charge as our surety, and therefore we are freed. Our resurrection is in Christ first. We rise because he is the “first-begotten from the dead.” Our ascension is in Christ, and our sitting at the right hand of God is in him first. All things that are ours are first his; what he has by nature, we have by grace. Why do the angels attend us and serve as ministering spirits to us? Because we are Christ’s, and he is the Jacob’s ladder on whom the angels ascend and descend. All the communion those blessed spirits have with mankind is because we are Christ’s. They are ministering spirits to Christ first, and then to us, because we are Christ’s.

Therefore it is a good meditation, and one fitting the gospel, never to think of ourselves first when we think of any prerogative, but to think of it in our blessed Savior, who led the way for us in all things. He was the first in everything that is good. As the elder brother, it was fitting that it should be so. And he must have the prerogative in all things.

Use 2. Therefore, let us glorify Christ in everything. When we think of our title to anything, let us think, “This I have by Christ.” Whether it is our justification or our glorification, “this I had by Christ and in Christ.”

This is another use we are to make of it, all the more because it sweetens everything we have. If all things came to us directly from God, they would be comforting; but since all is to be derived from God through Christ, we have God’s love and Christ’s love together. There is not the least good thing we have but we must think, “This I have by Christ: this victory over evil, and this turning of evil into good.” The thing is sweet, but the love of Christ is sweeter. The thing itself is not as good as the spring it comes from. It pleases God that we should have a triple comfort at once in every good thing: comfort in God the Father, that we have it from his love; comfort in the Son of God; and comfort in the creature. Therefore let us not be swallowed up in the creature, but reason like this: “This is a sweet comfort, but where do I have it from? Oh, it is from Christ, and the love of Christ, and I have Christ from the Father.” There is Christ, and God the Father, and the thing itself, and the love of Christ and of the Father, which is sweeter than the thing itself. As with gifts from friends, the gift is not as sweet as the love it comes from. The love and favor of God are better than the thing itself.

This is indeed a comforting observation, to know that all things are ours, because we are Christ’s. For why are Paul and Cephas and the ministers ours? Because they are the ministers of Christ first. “We are the ministers of Christ, and your servants, for his sake,” says the apostle (2 Cor 4:5).

Why are life and death ours? Because Christ conquered death first, and death was Christ’s passage to his glory. He conquered the evil of it. He took away “the sting of it,” and so it is good and useful to us. He has “the key of hell and death” (Rev 1:18); that is, he has the government of it, having overcome it. And so with “things present and to come”: heaven, which he now possesses, is his, and so it comes to be ours. Therefore let us think of Christ in all things, and let us think of the sweetness of all things as coming from this, that they come from Christ.

To enlarge on this point a little further: we have all from Christ and in Christ, yes, and by Christ and through him.

1. We have all we have in Christ, as a head, as the first, as our elder brother, as a root, as the second Adam. We have all in him by confidence in him. We have whatever is good in him.

2. We have all by and through him, as a mediator, for his sake. We have title to all because Christ by redemption has purchased a right to all, in and through him.

3. We have all by him by a kind of working, as the efficient cause, because we have the Spirit of God to extract good out of all. Since we are reasonable creatures, God will make all things ours in the way that befits understanding creatures; that is, by sanctifying our understanding to extract the quintessence out of everything. For a Christian has the Spirit to let him see that God is leading him by his Spirit to good in all. And where does the Spirit come from? From Christ. Christ has satisfied the wrath of God the Father. And now the Father and Christ, both as reconciled, send the Spirit as the fruit of the love of both. So Christ, as the efficient cause, makes all ours, because the Spirit is his, and by that Spirit we make all ours.

4. And Christ is an exemplary cause. We have all in him, through him, and by him as an exemplary pattern. The same Spirit that subdued all to him subdues all things to us. To make this a little clearer: there was in Christ a kingdom of patience as well as a kingdom of power and glory. There was a kingdom of patience; that is, such a kingdom as Christ exercised in his greatest abasement, by which he made all things, even the worst, serve his own purpose and the church’s. So in every member of his there is a kingdom of patience set up, by which he subjects all things to him. To make it clearer still:

When Christ died, which was the lowest degree of his abasement, there was a kingdom of patience even then. What! When he was subdued by death and Satan, was there a kingdom then? Yes, a kingdom. For though visibly he was overcome and nailed to the cross, invisibly he triumphed over principalities and powers. For by death he satisfied his Father; and his Father being satisfied, Satan is only a jailer. What has Satan to do when God is satisfied by death? Christ never conquered more than on the cross. When he died he killed death, and Satan, and all. And did not Christ reign on the cross when he converted the thief, when the sun was astonished, and the earth shook and moved, and the light was eclipsed? Who cares about Caesar when he is dead? But what was more powerful than Christ when he died? He was most at work when he seemed to do nothing. In patience he reigned and triumphed; he subjected the greatest enemies to himself: Satan, and death, and the wrath of God, and all.

In the same way all things are ours, even the worst things that befall God’s children: death, afflictions, and persecutions. There is a kingdom of patience set up in them. The Spirit of God subdues all base fears in us, and a child of God never triumphs more than in his greatest troubles. This is what the apostle says in Romans 8:37: “In all these things we are more than conquerors.” How can it be that in those great troubles we should be “conquerors and more”? It is this: the spirit of a Christian, taken as a Christian, reigns and triumphs at such a time. For the devil and the world labor to subdue the spirits of God’s children and their cause. Now take them at their worst: the cause they stand for, they will go on standing for, and the spirit they are led by is undaunted. So the Spirit of Christ is victorious and conquering in them, and most of all at such times.

What one writer says of a natural man is truly said of a Christian, though that writer speaks too vaingloriously: he subdues hope and fear, and is more sublime than all others. A Christian is truly such. While he suffers, he conquers; indeed, he conquers more then than at other times. For his spirit gains strength by suffering, and the cause gains strength by suffering, and his comfort and strength are answerable to his suffering. So all things are his. The Spirit that subdued all things to Christ subdues them to him. Indeed, he makes all things advantageous for the time to come. As St. Paul says, “These light afflictions that we suffer, work unto us an exceeding weight of glory” (2 Cor 4:17), because they fit and prepare our desires for glory. And our reward in heaven shall be answerable to the measure in which we glorify God. The more we suffer, the more “entrance” we have into heaven in this world: we enter further into the kingdom of grace, and consequently into the kingdom of glory. So there is a kingdom set up in a Christian, as there was in Christ, in patience in suffering. So we see that “all things are ours” because “we are Christ’s,” and what we may observe from that.

To conclude this point with some uses:

Use 1. Let us be stirred up to study Christ, and in Christ to study our own excellency. St. Paul counted all “dross and dung, in comparison of the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ” (Phil 3:8). And indeed we cannot study Christ without its reflecting upon the soul at once; it is a transforming study. The study of the love of Christ must necessarily make us love him in return. The study of the choice Christ has made of us will make us choose him in return, and say, “Whom have I in heaven but thee?” (Ps 73:25). If we study the grace and mercy of Christ, we cannot help being transformed into a marvelous regard for him in return. Therefore let us raise our thoughts more to think of Christ and the excellencies of Christ, applying them to ourselves: “All things are yours, and you are Christ’s.” We should not study Christ or any excellency in him without also thinking, “This is mine; this is for me.” The more the spouse hears of the riches and advancement of her husband, the more she counts herself blessed and says, “This is for me.” And the more we think of Christ, the more we think of our own advancement and excellency. Therefore we should be willing to hear “the unsearchable riches of Christ” unfolded to us, for these serve to kindle the spouse’s love for Christ.

The ministers are friends of the bridegroom, who come between the spouse and Christ to make up the match between them. One blessed way they do it is to unfold to the church her own beggary and the riches she has by Christ: her own need, and the excellency she has in Christ. The main aim of the ministry is to show us our beggary in ourselves, and our danger: that we owe more than we are worth; that we are indebted to God’s justice for body and soul and all; and that, being so indebted, we must of necessity have supply from the riches of another, or else we go to prison and perish eternally.

Now Christ does not only pay our debts (and that much we might look for out of self-love); he is also “the chief of ten thousand” (Song 5:10), an excellent person in himself. And the unfolding of the excellencies in Christ is a means of bringing about the contract and marriage between the church and Christ. So let us labor by all means to be one with Christ, and to seek further union and communion with Christ, because it is on this term and tenure that “all things are ours”: if we are Christ’s. If not, nothing is ours but damnation. And considering that the more union we have with him, the more we shall know our own prerogative, that “all things present and to come are ours,” we should therefore labor to know him more. There are three graces that tend to union: knowledge, faith, and love.

The more we know him, the more we shall trust him: “They that know thy name will trust in thee” (Ps 9:10). And the more we trust in him, the more we shall love him. Knowledge breeds trust, and trust breeds love. Therefore let us labor to grow in our knowledge of Christ, our trust in him, and our love for him.

And to that end, as I said, let us take every occasion to hear of the excellencies of Christ, to study them ourselves, and to hear of them from others, especially in the ministry. In Song 5:9, those who were not converted, the daughters of Jerusalem, ask the church, “What is thy beloved more than another’s beloved?” “My beloved,” says the church, “is white and ruddy, the chiefest of ten thousand”; and with that she sets him out from top to toe in all his excellencies, and says, “This is my beloved.” Then she who before had asked slightingly, “What is thy beloved more than another’s beloved?” says in the sixth chapter, “Where is thy beloved, that we may seek him with thee?” (Song 6:1). So when we know Christ and his excellencies, the next query will be, “Where is thy beloved?” Of all the subjects in divinity we can study, we hear of nothing more comforting than of Christ and the benefits we have by him; for God will be glorified in nothing so much as in that great mystery of Christ. Therefore let these things be sought after more and more.

Question. But how shall I know whether Christ is mine, or whether I am in Christ? For everything depends on this tenure, that we are in Christ.

Answer. Ask your own heart.

(1) Have you given your consent and contracted yourself to Christ, or not? This is one way, as I said, by which we are Christ’s: by giving our consent. Our own hearts will tell us whether we have given our consent to take Christ as a head, a governor, and a king to rule us, as well as a priest to die for us. If you are content to come under the government of Christ, to be ruled by his Spirit, you may say, “I am Christ’s; I have given myself up to him; I am content to take him.” We know what has proceeded from our own will, and there are none who have given themselves up to Christ but they may know it. Therefore let us consider whether we have given our consent to Christ or not. I fear that with many it is still to be done; for instead of contracting themselves to Christ, they have yielded to their own lusts.

(2) Again, consider by what spirit you are guided, whether by the Spirit of Christ or not. “He that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his” (Rom 8:9). Christ is a husband who will rule his spouse. He will rule in his own temple and house. He is a head who will rule his own members. Consider what spirit guides and moves you, whether the Spirit of Christ or the spirit of the world. If the Spirit of Christ rules in us, it will work as it did in Christ. It will work that judgment of things that Christ had, counting heavenly things the most excellent, and the same judgment of persons, esteeming those whom Christ esteems. It will work the same conduct toward God, toward men, toward enemies, toward Satan. If we have the Spirit of Christ, it will transform us to be like Christ in our judgment, dispositions, and affections every way, in some degree, according to our capacity and measure. Therefore let us not deceive ourselves. If we are led by the spirit of the world and not by the Spirit of Christ, we cannot say with comfort, “I am Christ’s.” When everyone comes to claim their own, the devil will say, “You are mine; you were led by my spirit.” But if we yield ourselves to be guided by the blessed truth of God, then when that challenge comes, “Who is on my side? Who?” (2 Kings 9:32) Christ will own us as his in evil times.

(3) He who is Christ’s will stand for Christ on all occasions, and stand for religion. He will not be a lukewarm neutral. If we are Christ’s, we cannot fail to have a word to speak for him and for religion. If we are Christ’s, we will be strong for Christ; we will be true to him; we will not betray Christ and the cause of religion that is put into our hands. But, by the way, let us beware of making this a name of faction, as the Corinthians did, saying, “I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I am of Christ” (1 Cor 1:12), like some who say they are neither papists nor Protestants, but Christians. Yet in times when profession is required, a man must show his religion here. Not to say “I am Christ’s” is to be an atheist. Where confession and profession of religion are called for, we must own the side of Christ and say we are Christ’s indeed.

It is said in the Revelation that so many hundreds and thousands were sealed with a “seal in their foreheads” (throughout Rev 7). For just as the slaves of antichrist are sealed in the hand (they have a mark in their hand; that is, they are bold for antichrist), so all God’s children are sealed in their foreheads. That is the place of confession and profession, the forehead being an open place. Christ carries God’s broad seal. He seals all who come to heaven in the forehead. He seals them first in their hearts to believe the truth, and then he seals them in the forehead to confess openly: “With the heart we believe, and with the mouth we confess to salvation” (Rom 10:10). Therefore those who are not bold to confess and profess religion when they are called to it are none of Christ’s “sealed ones,” for he seals them to make them bold in the profession of religion.

Let this be one evidence of whether you are Christ’s or not: when the question comes, “Who is on my side?” you own Christ’s side, and stand for Christ and for the religion reformed and established. If a man does not do this, he cannot say “I am Christ’s”; his heart will give his tongue the lie if he does not stand boldly for the cause of Christ. “He that is ashamed of me before men, I will be ashamed of him before my heavenly Father” (Mark 8:38).

It is a comforting consideration, if on trial we find ourselves Christ’s, that we own the cause of Christ and his side. It is the best side, and we shall find it so in the hour of death and on the day of judgment. If we find ourselves to be Christ’s, what a comfort this will be! Of all conditions in the world, the sweetest and the safest is to be in Christ. It is to have all below us ours, and all above us ours too; to have God the Father ours, and God the Holy Spirit; to have all in heaven and earth ours, “things present and things to come.” What a comforting consideration this is in all storms: to be housed in Christ, to dwell in Christ, to be clothed with Christ! When the storm of God’s anger comes upon a nation, and on the day of judgment, to be found in Christ, “not having our own righteousness” (Phil 3:9), and in the hour of death to die in Christ! If we are Christ’s, we live in him and die in him, and shall be found in him on the day of judgment. If we are Christ’s, we are in heaven already in Christ our head. We sit in heavenly places together with him.

In all the changes and turns of things in the world, which are many (“life and death, and things present, and things to come”: there is a world of changes), yet in all of them, in life and in death, whether a man looks backward or forward, upward or downward, if he is in Christ he is upon a rock. He may look down on all things as his servants. All things shall be commanded by God to serve for his good, to bring him to heaven, and to give him safe conduct. We study our title deeds and other such things. This is worth our study more and more: to make sure of this, that we are Christ’s and Christ is ours. The more we grow in knowledge, and faith, and love, the more we shall grow in assurance of this.

Use 2. Again, if we are Christ’s, why then should we fear want, when all things are ours, and we are Christ’s? Can anyone be in want at the fountain? Can anyone lack light who is in the sun? A Christian has all things as his, and his on this tenure, that all things are his because Christ is his. Can anything be lacking to him? It should comfort us against the time to come: if we are stripped of all, yet we have the Fountain of all. We must be stripped of all at the hour of death, whether we will or not; but if we are Christ’s and Christ is ours, all things are in him in an eminent manner. It is a wonderful comfort for the present against all fears and wants. And it is a comfort for the time to come that, when all things are taken from us, yet he who is better than all things, who is better than the world itself, will remain to us. Therefore let us think on these things. It is wonderfully comforting to be Christ’s, and to be his in so special a way.

Use 3. And let us learn, as we are advised, “to forget our father’s house” (Ps 45:10): to forget all former base acquaintance, and to be content with Christ. What does our blessed Savior say in the Gospel? “Those that hear my words, they are my brother, and sister, and mother” (Mark 3:35). Are they so? And shall not we, for the sake of Christ, who is nearer than anyone in the world, “hate father and mother” (Luke 14:26), that is, not regard them, for Christ’s sake? If we are so near Christ, and he will stick by us when all leave us, then let us answer Christ’s love. He is to us in place of all kindred; let him be so, if we cannot have their love on any other terms than forsaking Christ.

Thus we see what we may observe from this, that “we are Christ’s.” Now it is said here besides that “Christ is God’s.”

Here is a sacred circle that ends where it begins; for all things come out from God at first, and all things go back again to God and end in him. “All are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” Man is, as it were, the horizon of all things, which has one half of the heavens below, divided and bounded, and the other above. A holy man stands between all things, those above him and those under him. All things below him are his. They serve his turn and use, to help him on to heaven as provision for the journey. And all things above him are his; that is why all things below are his. Now to come to this last branch.

“And Christ is God’s.”

In what sense is Christ God’s? Was he not the Son of God? Yes! That is true. He was the eternal Son of God. But that is not what is meant here. Christ is God’s as Mediator. The Father, the first person of the Deity, is the fountain, and the Mediator comes from him in a double sense.

First, because the Father, the first person, was offended, he must therefore appoint a mediator. Now, by what bonds is Christ God’s? By every strong term that can be devised. God sent him into the world: “He sent his Son.” God set him forth as a propitiation (Rom 3:25): “Him hath the Father sealed” (John 6:27). He came forth with God’s great seal. God sealed him to be Mediator in his baptism, and by his working of miracles, and by raising him from the dead. God the Father sealed him and set his stamp on him as his own.

He sent him, set him forth, and sealed him: “He was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows” (Ps 45:7). He was anointed to show his authority. Kings and priests and prophets were anointed. So God the Father has appointed him to be king, priest and prophet of his church. He is anointed in all these terms: “It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell” (Col 1:19). And in Matthew 11:27, “All power is given to me of my Father, in heaven and earth.” So when he was about to ascend, he says, “All power is given to me in heaven and earth” (Matt 28:18). He came out from the Father with all authority. The Scripture is wonderfully full on this point, to show with what authority Christ came from the Father. The points to consider here are, first of all, that all things are Christ’s, and therefore we are Christ’s; and so all things are the Father’s.

This is the highest degree. We can go no further. There is the center in which we must rest: all things are the Father’s. All things are of God, who made all out of nothing and can turn all to dust at his pleasure. “All things are of him, and by him, and through him,” as it is divinely set forth in Romans 11:36. There is no question of this. To show that all things are the Father’s would be to add light to the sun. And on this ground Christ is the Father’s in the first place. And then “all things are ours,” because Christ is ours, and Christ is the Father’s. The point that is more material, and worth dwelling on, is this:

Though all things come from the Father, yet they do not come from the Father immediately, but they come from Christ.

Christ is the Father’s, and we are the Father’s in Christ; and all things are ours in Christ. There is no immediate communion between us and the Father; Christ comes between God and us.

Why is this needful? For many undeniable reasons.

Reason 1. Because there is no proportion between God the Father and us, but a vast disproportion. He is holiness and purity, and in himself a “consuming fire.” What are we without a mediator, a middle person, without Christ coming between? Nothing but stubble, fit fuel for his wrath. So all the love and good that comes from the first Person must come to us through a middle person: “You are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” We cannot endure the brightness of the Father’s majesty. It is too great a presence: “He dwells in that height that no man can attain unto,” as the apostle says (1 Tim 6:16).

Therefore a person must come between, clothed in our nature. God in our nature comes between the Father and us, and all things come from God to us in him. The salt waters of the sea are sweet in the rivers once they have been strained through the earth. In the same way the waters of majesty and justice in God, though they are terrible, and though there is a disproportion between them and us, are sweet and delightful when they have been strained and conveyed through Christ. But outside Christ there is no communion with God. He is a friend to both sides: to us as man, to God as God.

All things come originally from the fountain of all, God. They are God’s; and you know that the three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, meet in one nature in God. Yes; but, as I said, the holy God does not convey good things to us immediately, but by the mediation of Christ. For since the fall God would have it this way: that having lost all, we should recover all again by the “second Adam,” who was to be a public person, a mediator between God and us; and that so through Christ we should have access and entrance to the Father, and by him we should have boldness. And God would have it so in order that, coming downward to us again, he might do all things with due satisfaction to his justice. For, as I said, we are as stubble, and God is “a consuming fire.” If Christ were not in the middle, what dealings could there be between the Lord and us? None other than between the fire and the stubble: majesty on his side, and misery and sin on ours. There must be a mediator to bring these two contraries together.

So all comes downward from God to us through Christ. God does all to us in Christ. He chooses us in Christ and sanctifies us in Christ; he bestows all spiritual blessings on us in Christ, as members of Christ. He conveys it to Christ first, and through him to us. He has put fullness in him, and of his fullness “we receive grace for grace” (John 1:16); for Christ is complete, and in him we are complete.

Reason 2. Then again, God will have it this way, as it is fitting that it should be, because Christ is fitted for it. He is the Son by nature, and it is fitting that we who are sons by adoption should have communion with the Father in the Son by nature. He is beloved of the Father first: “In him I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). We come to have communion with God in him in whom God is well pleased. Christ is the first beloved of all, for God looks on Christ as the first begotten of him. He is the first Son by nature, and beloved of God. On this ground God comes to delight in us who are sons by adoption, who are heirs, because we are “fellow heirs with Christ.” He delights in us because we are one with Christ, in whom he beholds us.

Reason 3. Again, God does this not only to keep his state and his greatness at a distance from us, but he does it in mercy. He has appointed Christ to come between so that now we need not be afraid to go to God by the middle person whom he himself appointed, “who is bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh.” Now we go to God who is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh: not God simply and barely considered, but God incarnate. There is no going to him in ourselves, but only to God made bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. As Bernard says, “I go willingly to a Mediator made bone of my bone, my brother.”

It was a comfort to Joseph’s brothers that they had Joseph, their brother, as the second man in the kingdom. And is it not a sweet comfort to Christians that they have one who is the second person in the Trinity, who is their brother, who is the high steward of heaven and earth? Is it not a comfort to the bride that her husband is advanced over all and is nearest to the king? Is it not a comfort to everyone who stands in relation to another to have someone who may stand for them, who is both able and willing? Now, Christ is able as God and willing as our brother, and is therefore a fit person to come between God and us. He can do us good, because he is God; and he will do us good, because he is “bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh.” So we see that Christ is God’s, and why a third person must come between God and us, and that Christ is fitted to be the middle person.

Now, to confirm it by a passage of Scripture or two. The Scripture is everywhere full of this argument: “It pleased God to reconcile all to himself in Christ, in whom we have obtained the inheritance, that in the fullness of time he might gather together in one all things in Christ” (Eph 1:10 and following). It is a recapitulation, a bringing of all into one again. God the Father, in Christ, brought all to a head again; he brought all back to himself again. For without Christ we are scattered and severed and torn away from God. But in Christ God brought all into one head again, both what is in heaven and what is on earth. And so in Colossians 1:19, “It pleased God that in Christ all fullness should dwell, and in him to reconcile all things in heaven and earth.”

The use of this is manifold and very comforting.

Use 1. Do all things come from God the Father to us in Christ, a middle person? As all things below us are ours in Christ, so are all things above us: God the Father is ours in Christ. Then it should teach us to direct our devotion upward to God, as God comes downward to us. All things come down from God in Christ. God is the Father of Christ, and Christ is the Father of us. As nothing comes from the Father down to us immediately, so let us not go up to the Father except in Christ. That is, let us offer all our prayers to God in the mediation of his beloved Son, the Son of his own appointing, Jesus Christ. We must ask everything in his name: “Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name…” (John 14:13-14). “Do all in the name of Christ” (Col 3:17).

In any of our devotions and prayers to God, it is ignorant presumption, arrogant and fruitless, to go to God in our own name, or to think of God without the relation of a Father in Christ. Though we do not always name Christ, yet we must think of God in the relation of a Father, in which Christ is implied; for how does he come to be a Father except in Christ? He is Christ’s first, and ours in him. Let us not think of a bare, naked God, but of God clothed with the sweet relation of a Father in Christ, by whom he has become our Father.

Therefore, Lord, we do not come to you in our own name, or in our own worth and desert, which is none at all; but we come to you in the merits of Christ, in the mediation of Christ, in the love you bear to him, and the love that for his sake you bear to us who are his members. This is the way of dealings between God and us. To think of God outside Christ, outside the Mediator, is a terrible thought; nothing is more terrible. But to think of God in Christ, nothing is sweeter. For now the nature of God is lovely, coming to us in Christ, and the majesty and justice of God are lovely. When his justice comes to be satisfied through Christ, it is sweet; for, Lord, you will not punish the same sin twice. And the majesty and greatness of God are comforting. Whatever is God’s is ours, because Christ is ours: God in his greatness, in his justice, in his power. All things, being conveyed and passing through Christ, are sweet and comforting to us. Therefore, seeing that “Christ is God’s,” and all things come from God in Christ, let it direct us to perform all to God in Christ.

Use 2. Again, if God is ours, and all things are ours in Christ, then when we have to deal with God the Father, or with Satan, or with others who solicit us, let us make use of this: Christ is God’s, and I am God’s through Christ. When we have to deal with God the Father, who seems angry for our sins, and our consciences are awakened and terrified, say, “Lord, Christ is yours. I have nothing of myself to bring you but a mediator of your own appointing and sending forth, of your own anointing and sealing; and you will not refuse the righteousness and obedience of a mediator of your own.” Christ is God’s. Let us carry our elder brother with us whenever we want anything from God. When we have offended him, let us not come alone, but bring our Benjamin with us; let us come clothed in our elder brother’s garments. God will not refuse the very name of his Son; it is a name that prevails with his Father. “It is your own Son; he is a mediator of your own. Though I have nothing of my own to bring you, yet I bring you your own Son.” I beg you, let us think of this when we have offended God and our consciences are troubled; let us go to God in the sweet name of his Son.

Use 3. Again, if Christ is God’s, and nothing comes from God except through Christ, let us give Christ the greatest preeminence. Christ is of God’s own appointing, and all things are ours because Christ is ours; indeed, God is ours because Christ is ours. Therefore let no one set himself up in our consciences except Christ and God. The conscience is for Christ, for our husband. Christ is ordained by God to be our head, and to be all in all to us from God the Father. Therefore, when our judgment is pressed to judge this way or that, let us consider what Christ my husband, who is God’s, says. God will have us hear him: “This is my beloved Son, hear him” (Matt 17:5). He comes with authority from God the Father; what does he say? If it is not the judgment of Christ, who shall sit in my conscience but Christ? Shall the pope? Shall any man usurp the right, by an infallibility of judgment, to say, “It is so; you must believe it on pain of damnation”? I cannot help speaking of this a little in passing.

The most modest and learned Jesuit of recent times, speaking on this argument of Christ and bringing up an objection that some may make against the pope’s authority, says, “If the pope says otherwise, his authority would be more to me than the definition of all the holy fathers.” Indeed, he says, “I say with Paul, ‘If an angel from heaven should come and say it,’ and the pope should say otherwise, I would believe the pope before I would believe an angel from heaven.” Such a place does that “man of sin” hold in the consciences of those great, learned men. This is intolerable. We are Christ’s; he is our husband. Christ comes with authority from the Father. We must hear him; he is God’s. Therefore let no one prevail in our consciences who does not bring the word of God and of Christ.

Use 4. Again, if Christ is God’s, and all things come to us from God by Christ, then we see a rest for our souls. We can go no further than God, and in God, to the first person in the Trinity. The Christian religion pitches a center for the soul to rest in, a safe pitching place, a safe foundation. It shows our reconciliation with the great God now. The Christian religion shows that all is ours, and we are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s; and there it sets down a rest for our souls. In Matthew 11:28, Christ, after he had said, “All things are given me of my Father,” says, “Come unto me,” therefore, “all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will ease you.” What encouragement do we have to come to him? “All things are given me of the Father.” “Christ is God’s.” Therefore you may boldly come to me. “Ye shall find rest to your souls in me.”

Yes, but is Christ the last rest? No; the Father is the last rest, for in Christ I know that the Father is well pleased. You shall find rest in Christ because he has satisfied the Father. So all solid comfort must end in God, in the first person in the Trinity. We can go no further than God, the first person, the fountain of the Trinity. So you see that in our being Christ’s, and Christ’s being God’s, the soul has a footing for itself in God the Father.

Question. But may we not rest in Christ?

Answer. Yes, because he is authorized by God the Father, and we can go no further. For the party first offended by our sins is God the Father, and he has found out this remedy, this mediator. Therefore why should we entertain suspicions that trouble our souls and set us running in a maze? Why not go to God in the name of Christ on this very ground? “Lord, you who are the party offended, and who out of the tenderness of your mercy have found out this mediator, I rest in him, because he came out from you.” And therefore here is a solid rest for the soul, when the soul goes back to God the Father and rests in him.

We say of a circle that it is the strongest of all figures because it is round: it strengthens itself, whereas a straight line is weak. As we see with round structures made into arches and the like, they are the strongest figures, because every stone strengthens another. So this is the strongest return of all: as all things come from God the Father, so when we go back to him and rest there, who can break it? It is the strongest of all. The soul does not stop along the way at this thing or that; all of them are false rests. It goes on to Christ. And, to satisfy the soul all the more, when it rests in Christ, it rests in the Father. Therefore when I deal with Christ and think of Christ, I must think that I have to deal with the Father. Christ was incarnate; it was as much as if the Father had been incarnate, for it was by his authority. Christ suffered, but God “gave him to death for us all.” See the Father in all, and there the soul will rest.

We see in this the wonderfully strong salvation of a Christian. It is not founded only in the good will of the Son, or of the Father, but in the love of both, and on the authority of Christ coming from the Father. For “God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor 5:19). So our salvation is founded and built on the mutual love of the Father and of the Son to us. The Son loves us as from the Father, and the Father loves us in the Son; so strongly is our salvation built.

Use 5. Then again, for comfort: if Christ is God’s, appointed by God as a Savior, to make all things ours and to bring us back again, shall we not reason with the apostle in Romans 8:32, “If he hath not spared his own Son, but given him to death for us all, how shall he not with him give us all things else?” That passage is a proof of the text in hand. How shall we prove that “all things are ours” for our good? Because “God hath not spared his own Son,” who is better than the world. Therefore God would sooner create another world than let us lack anything that is for our good. If he has “given his Son for us all, how shall he not with him give us all things,” as much as will serve for our good?

Use 6. Now for a use of duty. Since God has ordained and anointed Christ for our good, let us thank God for Christ, as the apostle does: “Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:3). We forget it. We see that it is the beginning of almost every epistle of Paul and Peter: “Blessed be the God and Father of Christ” (1 Pet 1:3). Alas! How would he have been our Father if he had not first been the Father of Christ? And where would our anointing have been, if Christ had not been anointed first? Where would our inheritance have been, if he had not been the heir first? And where would God’s love to us have been, if he had not loved Christ first? For there could be no communion between the holy God and us without that middle person. Therefore, “blessed be God, the Father of Christ.”

We bless God for our food and drink, for the comforts of this world, for everything; but do we remember to bless God for Christ? We bless God for petty things, as indeed we cannot be too much in thanksgiving; it is the employment of heaven. Oh, but let us bless God especially for him in whom we have all, in this world and in the world to come. Blessed be God for anointing Christ. So “God loved the world, that he gave his Son” (John 3:16). He could not express how much. “Christ is God’s.” Therefore bless God for Christ above all other things whatever.

Use 7. And now, to go boldly on every occasion to the throne of grace. Now in Christ there are good terms between heaven and us. So long as we have our flesh sitting at the right hand of God to plead for us, to be an intercessor and advocate for us, let us go boldly in all our needs to the throne of grace in the mediation of Christ. “Christ is God’s,” and is with God at his right hand in all glory and majesty, making request for us; nothing more comforting can be thought of. Indeed, without these considerations, what is our religion? What is all our mortal life without knowing God in Christ? “This is eternal life, to know thee, and whom thou hast sent, Jesus Christ” (John 17:3). It is the beginning of heaven, as Christ says. It is not only the way to bring us to heaven; it is salvation begun. The knowledge of God the Father, and the knowledge of Christ coming from the Father with a commission to work all for our good, is eternal life.

Thus we see what we may observe from this, that Christ is God’s. We can go no further. We cannot take up our rest better than in this: “All is ours, and we are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” Therefore let us end with that passage in Romans 11:36: “Of him, and by him, and through him are all things: therefore to him be glory for ever, and for ever.” If all things come from the Father, by and through the Father in Christ, then to the Father be all glory for ever and ever. Amen.

When he is come, he shall reprove the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment: of sin, because they believe not in me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. Especially the tenth verse: Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you shall see me no more (John 16:8-11).

Our blessed Savior descended from heaven to earth for the redemption of man, and after he had accomplished that great work, he ascended there again. Knowing that his disciples would take his departure very heavily, he labors to arm them against the assaults of all the grief and sorrow that might otherwise oppress them, and he does it by many arguments. Among the rest, this is not the least: that when he is gone away he will “send the Comforter unto them.” God never takes anything away from his children without sending them something better. And this Comforter whom he promised to send will carry them through in all their ministry and in every function. In effect he speaks to them like this: You, my disciples, are to encounter the world. Be of good comfort; my Spirit will go along with you, and “he shall reprove the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.” By yourselves you are too weak, but the Spirit will strengthen you and make way into the hearts of those who are to be saved, by convincing them of “sin, righteousness, and judgment.” So do not be discouraged; the Spirit will breathe courage into you and make way for your doctrine. “When the Comforter is come, he shall reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and judgment: of sin, because they believe not in me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”

There are three main parts of salvation: the knowledge of our misery, the knowledge of our deliverance, and a life that answers to it. The Holy Spirit will work all of these. He will convince the world of their own sin, of righteousness by a mediator, and of a reformation of life. So the Holy Spirit will go along with you in carrying out the whole business of man’s salvation. Where he begins, he makes an end. Where he convinces of sin, he convinces of righteousness, and then of the necessity of a reformation. He carries all before him, and he does it in a spiritual order.

First, he “convinces the world of sin,” then “of righteousness,” then “of judgment.” For it would be in vain to convince of the righteousness of Christ unless he had first convinced of sin. Who cares for balm who is not wounded? Who cares for a pardon who is not condemned? Therefore he convinces of sin first. I have spoken before about convincing of sin.

Here is a threefold convincing: of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and each of these has a reason added to it. “Of sin, because they believe not in me”; “of righteousness, because I go to my Father”; “of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”

The Holy Spirit begins with convincing of sin. What is this convincing? It is a clear and infallible demonstration of our condition. It brings a commanding light into the soul. It settles the soul and takes away all quibbles, all turnings and windings. To “convince” is to make a man, as Job’s phrase is, “lay his hand upon his mouth” (Job 40:4). Light is a convincing thing. When we see the sun, we see that it is day. Though ten thousand men should say it is not day, we would not believe them, because the evidence of it is so undeniable that anyone who denies it must be an unreasonable man.

So, then, the Spirit of God brings a commanding, undeniable light into the soul: You are such and such. Here no shifting, no winding and turning, will serve when the Holy Spirit comes with this light. I only unfold this plainly.

This conviction of the Holy Spirit is not only general, that all men are sinners, but particular and strong: “You are a sinner, and you are in danger of damnation.” And it is universal. It takes in sins of nature and sins of life, sins of the understanding, the will, and the affections. And it is not of sin only, but of the misery that comes by sin, of the danger, folly, and madness of sin, and of the aggravations that make sin greater, such as stifling so many good motions, withstanding so many means, and abusing so many mercies. The Holy Spirit convinces us so thoroughly that we have nothing to reply. Because I have spoken of this before, I am brief.

Beloved, unless the Holy Spirit “convinces,” there will be no convincing. Our deceitful hearts have so many windings and turnings. Proud nature arms itself with defenses, as a hedgehog rolls itself up and defends itself with its prickles. So you have many who clothe themselves, as with a coat of mail, to keep out this conviction: with strong words, with shifting the blame onto others, with frivolous excuses that make light of their sins, and with the way of the multitude. If the Holy Spirit did not strike in hard upon their consciences with “Thou art the man” (2 Sam 12:7), this work would never be done.

Question. But you will ask me this question: How shall we tell the common conviction of conscience from this conviction of the Spirit? For carnal men who go to hell are “convinced” by a common conviction. What is this saving conviction?

Answer. Difference 1. I answer, common conviction by the light of nature is a weak conviction. A little spark will show a little light, but it will not light up a room. That must be the work of some greater light, such as the sun. The Spirit is a strong light, stronger than natural conscience. Natural conscience and common light deal with some breaches of the second table of the law. Natural conscience never “convinces” of corrupt nature, but the Spirit does so most of all, as you may see in David in Psalm 51:5. He resolves everything into this, as if he should say, “Why should I tell you of my murder and adultery? ‘In sin did my mother conceive me.’” So a true Christian does not look to the branches so much as to the root.

Difference 2. Then again, a natural conscience, when it convinces a man, does so against his will. It does not make him a better man. He does not amend because of it; he is only tortured and tormented. But a man who is “convinced” by the Holy Spirit takes God’s part against himself. He is willing to be laid open, so that he may find the greater mercy. So there is a great difference between the common conviction of nature and the conviction of the Spirit. The conviction of the Spirit is the light of the Spirit, which is of a higher nature than the light of natural conscience. “I will send the Comforter”: when he comes, he will greatly enlighten and overpower the soul.

Difference 3. Again, the conviction of the Spirit sticks by a man; it never leaves the soul. But the conviction of an ordinary conscience is only a flash, and afterward such people are worse than they were before.

I must cut these things short, because on these occasions the time is always spent before we begin.

Use 1. Let us come, therefore, to make some use of this. The Spirit does “convince of sin.” But how? Ordinarily by the ministry, though not by the ministry alone. Therefore we must labor to submit willingly to the ministry “convincing of sin.” Conscience will convince, first or last. Is it not better to have a saving conviction now, to good purpose, than to have a bare, desperate conviction in hell? Oh, beloved, all the admonitions we hear, if we do not regard them now, we shall regard hereafter. Therefore labor to make good use of this “sword of the Spirit” of God. It is a sign of a good heart to wish, “Oh, that the ministry might meet with my corruption, so that it may be uncovered to me to the full!” A true heart counts sin its greatest enemy, and of all miseries it most desires to be freed from bondage to sin. For sin defiles heaven and earth and separates God from his creature. It was sin that threw angels out of heaven and Adam out of paradise. What embitters blessings and puts a sting into all afflictions but sin? If it were not for sin, we would take up any cross and bear any affliction more quietly than we do.

Therefore, as we desire to be saved and to stand with comfort before God on the day of judgment, let us desire and endeavor to be thoroughly convinced of sin. Take heed of resisting the Spirit of God in the ministry. Why are many led captive by their lusts, except that they hate the ministry of the word? They look upon it as Ahab looked upon Elijah: “Hast thou found me, O my enemy” (1 Kgs 21:20). They are naturally in love with their sins, and no one is so hated as those who set their sins before them. Take a man in his merely natural state, and he is a foolish creature; his heart rises against conviction. You see how the Pharisees, wise and learned men, when they were convinced, hated Christ to the death. Why? Because he opened their tombs and exposed the dead men’s bones within (Matt 23:27). So too, many nowadays who are convinced hate anyone who, by life or speech, uncovers their sins to them; and if it were possible and in their power, they would hate them to the death. This is how the Holy Spirit convinces of sin.

But before I leave this point, let me add this, taken from the reason or ground of this conviction: “Because they believe not in me.” It is unbelief that makes all other sins damnable. No sin is damnable if we can believe and repent. Therefore we are convinced of sin because we do not believe. It is as we say of a man who is condemned: because he cannot read, therefore he is condemned. He would escape if he could read, his offense being no great one. So it is here. It is failing to believe in Christ and to repent that makes all other sins deadly. What makes one man differ from another is his faith and repentance. There are some whose sins are greater than other people’s, yet by the Spirit of God and by faith they work them out every day. It is faith in the “brazen serpent” that takes away the sting of the fiery serpents (Num 21:9).

I have done with the conviction of sin. Let us now come to speak of the conviction of righteousness: “Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you shall see me no more.”

It is a fit time for the Holy Spirit to convince God’s people of righteousness when they have first been convinced of sin. Then they can relish Christ. Balm is balm indeed when the wound is discovered and felt. Oh, then a pardon is welcome, when the person is condemned. The reason given for this conviction of righteousness is “because I go to my Father, and you shall see me no more.” As the Holy Spirit fastens sin upon the conscience, so he takes sin off by applying the righteousness of Christ to the conscience. This is his office: first to convince the world of sin, and then to convince of righteousness, the righteousness by which we stand righteous before God.

And this righteousness here is not our own inherent righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ, a Mediator who is God and man.

The Holy Spirit convinces of righteousness in this order, by a fourfold gradation: first, that there must be a righteousness, and a full righteousness; second, that there is no such righteousness in the creature; third, that this righteousness is to be had in Christ the Mediator; and fourth, that this righteousness is our righteousness.

1. There must be a righteousness. For we have to deal with a God who is righteousness itself, and no unclean thing shall come into heaven (Rev 21:27). Unless we have a righteousness, how shall we look God in the face, or how can we escape hell?

2. Now for the second: it is not in any creature, men or angels. We do not have a righteousness of our own. For there are several parties to be satisfied: God himself, the law, our own consciences, and the world. Perhaps we may have a righteousness that satisfies the world, because we live moral, civil lives. Oh, but that will not satisfy conscience. And then satisfaction must be made to the law, which is a vast thing and condemns even our thoughts and desires. But God is the most perfect of all. Suppose we have the righteousness of good conduct among men; this will not satisfy God and the law, and it will not satisfy conscience. Men are our fellow prisoners. Conscience will be contented with nothing but what will content God: when conscience sees that such a righteousness has been found out by the wisdom of God, one that contents him. Otherwise conscience will always be in doubts and fears.

3. Third, this righteousness is to be had in Christ. What is the righteousness of Christ? The righteousness of Christ is the righteousness founded upon his obedience: his active obedience, fulfilling the law, and his passive obedience, discharging all our debts and satisfying God’s justice. The meritoriousness of both is founded upon the purity of his nature. All his sufferings and doings had their excellence from the personal union of God and man. With reference to that union we may, without blasphemy, affirm that God performed the law and God died for us.

4. Fourth and last, this righteousness is our righteousness. The Spirit convinces us that this righteousness belongs to all believers; it is better than the righteousness Adam had. His righteousness was the righteousness of a man; this righteousness is the righteousness of a mediator. It is such a righteousness that when we are clothed with it, we may pass through the justice of God. We may come with boldness to the throne of grace and say, “Lord, I come in the righteousness of Christ, which has appeased your wrath and satisfied your justice.” This is what the Holy Spirit convinces us of.

Question. But you will ask me, How does the Holy Spirit “convince” me of the righteousness of Christ?

Answer. I answer, first, the Holy Spirit presents to the soul the knowledge of this excellent righteousness, and then creates a hand of faith to embrace it once it is set before us. You who are humble and brokenhearted sinners, here is Christ for you. The Spirit of God reveals not only the excellence of Christ, but that this belongs to me, that Christ is given for me; and it is this “revelation of the Spirit” that sways the soul. When the Spirit does not merely tell in general that Christ is an excellent Savior, but says to a Christian soul, “God gave Christ for you,” this sways the heart to rest upon Christ. Upon this the marriage is made between the soul and Christ. The soul says, “I am Christ’s, and I give myself to Christ,” and to whatever accompanies Christ. And then, as in marriage the persons, by virtue of that relation, have a share in each other’s goods and estate, so when this mystical marriage is made between Christ and us, we have a right to Christ by every right, by titles of purchase and redemption. He has purchased heaven for us, and us for heaven. All that Christ has is ours; all his good is ours; our sins are his, and his righteousness is ours. So when the Holy Spirit convinces me of Christ’s righteousness and gives me faith to embrace it, then Christ is mine, with all he has. By what I have said you may see how the Spirit convinces. Only imagine what a blessed condition the soul is in when this match is made!

But you will ask me why the sending of the Spirit is necessary for “convincing of this righteousness.” I answer, for several reasons.

Reason 1. First, because it is beyond the conception of man that there should be such a righteousness of one who is God and man. Therefore it is revealed by the Spirit. And when it is revealed, the Spirit must open the eyes of the soul to see it; otherwise we shall have only a natural knowledge of supernatural things. For a man may understand them by natural knowledge, well enough to be able to discourse about them. Therefore, to change the soul, there must be a supernatural sight to see supernatural things. A devil incarnate may know all things and yet lack sight. Only the Holy Spirit gives inward sight and inward eyes, and works faith to see Christ as mine.

Reason 2. Again, the sending of the Holy Spirit is necessary for this conviction, because he alone must settle the soul and make the conscience quiet, for he is greater than the conscience. Conscience will cry out, “You are a sinner”; the Holy Spirit convinces, “In Christ you are righteous.” Only the Holy Spirit knows what is in the heart of God the Father and in the heart of every man. He alone knows the Father’s intent toward every Christian, and he can answer all the inward objections and quibbles of flesh and blood raised up against the soul. Therefore the convincing of the Holy Spirit is necessary. Although Christ has purchased our peace, the Holy Spirit must still apply it; for the conscience is so full of clamor that unless the Holy Spirit applies what Christ has done, conscience will not be satisfied. God the Father has appointed Christ, and Christ has accomplished it; but the third Person must apply it to the soul, to assure us that it belongs to us. The application to the soul of all the good things that Christ the Son has accomplished is the proper office of the third Person. In civil contracts here there must be not only a purchase but a seal. Though Christ has worked out righteousness for us, the Spirit must seal it to every soul: “This righteousness belongs to you”; “Christ is yours, with all that is his.”

Reason 3. Again, it must necessarily be a work of the Spirit, because flesh and blood is full of pride and would gladly have some righteousness of its own. The Jews were of this temper. And from the beginning of the world until this day the greatest question has been this: what is the righteousness by which we must stand before God? But God’s Spirit answers all objections. Beloved, even the best of us, though in a state of grace, will be in darkness and call everything into question if the Holy Spirit does not convince us. Therefore we must be convinced not only at the beginning but throughout the continued course of the Christian life. Unless the Holy Spirit does this, we will fall into a dungeon of darkness. Therefore the convincing of the Holy Spirit is necessary.

Beloved, this should make us take care how we hear and how we read, even to beg for this convincing of the Spirit in every ordinance: “O Lord, grant me ‘the Spirit of revelation,’ and take the scales off my eyes, so that as these things are truths in themselves, they may be truths to me. Sway my soul, so that I may cast myself on your mercy in Christ.”

Objection. I must answer some cases that many a poor soul is troubled with: “Alas, I am not ‘convinced by the Spirit that Christ is my righteousness.’ What condition am I in, then?”

Answer. I answer that some are more strongly convinced and some less. Let a man be careless of holy duties, and he is less convinced; but let him be constant in them, and he will find the Holy Spirit convincing him more strongly that the righteousness of Christ is his. There are many presumptuous persons who “turn the grace of God into wantonness” (Jude 4). Because, through a counterfeit inspiration from Satan, they never question their state but imagine themselves to be good men and in the state of grace, they think this is the convincing of the Holy Spirit. But this is a general rule: spiritual convincing is not total, but always leaves some dregs of doubting in the heart. It is like a ship riding at anchor; though it may reel to and fro, it is safe for the main. So it is with the soul that is truly convinced. It is safe for the main, though it is tumbled and tossed with many doubts and fears; but its anchor is in heaven.

Take this as a ground of comfort, confirmed by the experience of all believers: the Spirit of God convinces them of Christ’s righteousness so far as to preserve in them such a power of grace that they cast themselves on the mercy of God in Christ, and God will not quench that spark. Though there may be little or no light, there will still be heat. God will send his Spirit into the heart so far that it will not give itself over to despair, and he will let such a beam into the soul that all the power in hell will not be able to keep it out. But it is our own neglect that we are not more strongly convinced, so as to break through everything. This is the privilege of a constant, careful Christian: to be strongly convinced of the righteousness of Christ.

Use. So we see how the Holy Spirit convinces us of righteousness. Other things I must omit. If this is so, I beg you, let us not lose our privileges and prerogatives. Does God give grace, and give Christ with all his righteousness, and shall we not make use of them? Let us use this righteousness in all temptations. Let us plead it to God himself when he seems to be our enemy: “Lord, you have ordained a righteousness, the righteousness of Christ, which has given full satisfaction to your justice, and he has given me a title to heaven. Though my soul may be in darkness, yet, Lord, I come to you in the name of my Savior, asking that you would persuade my soul of that righteousness. I want to glorify your name. In what will you be glorified? In mercy or in justice? Oh, in mercy above all. I cannot glorify you in your mercy unless you persuade me of the righteousness of Christ. Can I love you unless you love me first? Can you have any free and voluntary obedience from me unless I am convinced that Christ is mine? Now, Lord, I beg you, let me be someone you can take delight in.”

Beloved, since we have the means of such a gift, let us never rest until we have it. If Satan sets upon us, hold this out against him. If he tells you that you are a sinner, tell him, “I have a greater righteousness than my own, the righteousness of the God-man. I have a righteousness above all my unrighteousness.” Satan says God is displeased with me. Yes, but he is more pleased with me in Christ than displeased with me in myself. Satan says I have sinned against God. Yes, but not against the remedy. Send Satan to Christ. “Oh, but you have a corrupt nature that makes you run into this sin and that sin.” But there is a spring of mercy in God, a fountain of righteousness running over in Christ, an overflowing sea of the blood of Christ. Therefore let us labor to make use of this righteousness of Christ before God and against Satan in all temptations, yes, even against our own consciences: “I am such and such, yet God is such and such; all his attributes are conveyed to me in Christ.” Let us exalt God and Christ, and set Christ up above our sins, above anything in the world, as St. Paul did, who counted all things dung and dross for the excellent knowledge of Christ (Phil 3:8).

Question. You will ask me, How shall we know whether we are convinced of this righteousness or not?

Answer. I answer, we may know by the method Christ uses in convincing. First he convinces of sin, and then of righteousness. For a man to snatch at righteousness before he is convinced of sin is nothing but usurpation; for the Holy Spirit first convinces of sin.

That is why you have many who perish: they were never humbled enough. Beloved, people are not lost enough and not miserable enough for Christ, and not broken enough for him; and so they go without him.

Question. But how shall I know that the Holy Spirit has convinced me enough of sin, so that I may apply the righteousness of Christ to myself without presumption?

Answer. Only in this way: if the Holy Spirit has uncovered my sinful condition of nature and life so as to work in me a hatred of sin, and to turn my bent another way, and so make Christ sweet to me, then I am sufficiently convinced of sin.

So much in answer to that question by the way. To return: in the next place, I may know that I am thoroughly convinced of the righteousness of Christ by the witness and work of the Spirit. The Spirit brings light and faith. The work of the Spirit has a light of its own, just as I know that I believe when I believe. Sometimes, it is true, we do not have the reflex act of faith by which to make our own graces evident to ourselves. But anyone who is convinced by the Spirit of God will always have a heart wrought to bear a marvelous love to God. Upon this apprehension that God is mine and Christ is mine, the soul is constrained to love. From this follows an enlargement of heart and a prevailing of comfort over all discomfort, for “love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18). When the soul is convinced of this one comfort, that our sins are forgiven and that we have a right and title to heaven, it is in a blessed condition. Then what is poverty, and what is imprisonment? They are not worth reckoning in comparison with the glory that shall be revealed.

Again, where the Holy Spirit convinces enough, there is inward peace and great joy suited to the righteousness. As the righteousness is an excellent righteousness of the God-man, so the peace and joy that come from it are unspeakable peace and joy. So the heart then sees itself established in peace and joy, as you have it in Romans 5:1: “Being justified by faith, we have peace towards God.” This is not only inward peace and joy but a peace that will show itself outwardly, a glorious peace, a peace that will make us glory: “We glory in tribulation” (Rom 5:3). It is a hard matter to glory in being brought low. And not only so, but we glory in God. God is ours, and Christ’s righteousness is ours. When Christ has satisfied God’s wrath, then we may make our boast in God.

Again, where this conviction of righteousness is, it answers all objections. The doubting heart will object this and that, but the Spirit of God shows an all-sufficiency in Christ’s obedience; and that settles the soul quietly in all crosses and calms it, in some degree, in all storms. Where the soul is convinced of the righteousness of Christ, there the conscience boldly demands: “It is God that justifies, who shall condemn? It is Christ that is dead, and risen again, and sits at the right hand of God. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” (Rom 8:33-34). So a convinced conscience defies all creatures in heaven and earth. It works strongly and boldly. I will not need to enlarge on this. You know whether you are convinced.

Use. To end the point, I beg you, labor to live by this faith. Here is an evidence, if we can live by it. How is that done? By making use of the righteousness of Christ every day, just as every day we run into sin. Make sure that we have our consciences sprinkled with the blood of Christ, so that as we incur new guilt, we may have a new pardon. Therefore labor every day to see God as reconciled, and Christ as our advocate with the Father. Christ is now in heaven. If we sin, make use of him. This should be the life of a Christian: to make use of Christ’s righteousness. When you find your nature polluted, go to God and say, “Lord, my nature, though foul in itself, is holy and pure in Christ. He took the weakness of human nature to himself so that he might communicate the worth and efficacy of his divine nature to me. And as for my actions, I am a sinner; but Christ has fully discharged all my debts and is now in heaven. He has performed all righteousness for me. Do not look on me as I am in myself, but look on me in Christ. He and I are one.” This should be our everyday exercise: to see ourselves in Christ, and so to see him and ourselves as one. I would enlarge on the point further, but I will speak a word about the reason.

What is the reason why the Comforter may and shall convince of righteousness? “Because I go to the Father” (John 16:10). What strength is there in that reason? This: Christ took it upon himself to be our surety, and he had to acquit us of all our sins before he could go to his Father. If one sin had been left unsatisfied for, he could not have gone to his Father. But now he has gone to his Father; therefore all our sins are satisfied for. So the ascension of Christ is now a sufficient pledge to me that my person is accepted and my sins pardoned, because he has gone to his Father to appear before the Father for us, which he could not have done had he not fulfilled all righteousness.

But why did he go to the Father? Why, to apply what he had accomplished. If Christ had not gone to the Father, he could not have sent the Holy Spirit to us. Therefore this going to his Father is of great use. Satan pleads before God that we are such and such. Yes, but Christ says, “I have shed my blood for them”; and there he perfumes all our weak prayers. If we were not imperfect, what need would we have of a Mediator in heaven? Therefore he has gone to heaven to annul all Satan’s accusations and to prepare a place for us. Die when we will, our place is ready.

Then again, he has gone to the Father to clothe us with a sweet relation, to make the Father our Father. For he says, “I go to my Father and to your Father” (John 20:17), so that he is not ashamed to call us brothers. By virtue of this we may go to God and call him Father; and when we die, we may say without presumption, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). For the Father loves us as he loved Christ, with one and the same love, though in a far different degree. What a comfort this is, that when we die we go to our Father, who is better than any earthly father! Therefore it should give us joy when the time of our departure comes. We see how old Jacob’s heart leaped when he saw the chariots come out of Egypt, because he was going to see his son Joseph (Gen 45:27). So when death is sent to carry us to Christ, to heaven, we would be exceedingly glad if we had a strong faith.

And let us learn the art of faith here from Christ. “I go to the Father,” he says. There was a great deal of time yet to pass, no less than forty days after his resurrection, before he went to the Father; yet he says, “I go to the Father,” to show that faith presents future things as present. Faith sees heaven as present and the day of judgment as present, and it affects the soul as if they existed now. If we had a spirit of faith, it would present things far off as near at hand in this way. Therefore, when we meet with anything that may make our way to heaven seem long or troublesome, exercise your faith and make your journey’s end present to your spirits. Though it is remote from sense, say, “I go to the Father. What if I go through blood and a shameful death, yes, perhaps a tormenting death? Still I go to the Father!” When a man is once persuaded that God is his Father in Christ, it will make him walk to heaven before his time.

Use. Let us make use of this point of Christ’s going to the Father. Beloved, there is not a point of religion that does not hold a wonderful spring of comfort, and it is for lack of faith that we do not draw more comfort from them. When, therefore, we part with our friends by death, think that they have gone to their Father. “If ye loved me,” says Christ, “ye would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father” (John 14:28). If we love our friends, we should rejoice when they die. Beloved, this should comfort us: Christ has gone to his Father! Oh, what a welcome Christ had when he came into heaven! The same welcome will be there when we go to the Father. What joyful entertainment we will have from the Father and the Son! Therefore death should not be troublesome to us. Say, “Christ’s righteousness is mine; therefore I know I will go to the Father. What do I care, then, what kind of pains I go through?” If a man is going to a place he longs for, however troublesome the way may be, the sweetness of the end will make him forget the discouragements of his journey. Perhaps we must wade to heaven through a sea of blood. It does not matter. The end will make up for all. Though we lose our limbs on the way, it is better to limp to heaven than to dance to hell.

And a certain woman, named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, that worshipped God, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended to the things that were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized… (Acts 16:14-15)

The holy apostle St. Paul, a vessel of mercy, having himself found mercy from God, was a fit instrument to preach mercy to others.

So he was appointed to be a preacher to the Gentiles. Among the rest of the Gentiles, he was called to preach to the people of Macedonia, and that call came by a vision, as we see in the earlier part of the chapter. In verse 9, “A man of Macedonia” appeared to Paul by night and said, “Come to Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:9). Indeed, the condition of the people of Macedonia called for help, as the condition of many people does now. Though there is no such vision as a man of Macedonia, yet their wretched state under the kingdom of Satan cries, “Come and help us.” Though they do not cry with their mouths, yet their condition cries. Upon this vision the apostle set out on his journey toward Macedonia, and he stayed there a good while: “he abode certain days.”

Though God called him to Macedonia, God did not give him great encouragement at the time. This is God’s way of dealing with us: he does not reveal at the outset what he will do, but leads people on by gentle encouragements, and humbles them the more with little fruit at first. Paul “abode there certain days” without any great fruit. Afterward he went out to Philippi, the chief city of Macedonia. On the Sabbath day the people gathered together; a company of women had come together, and there he preached to them. Indeed, holy fellowship is never without a blessing. They met together on a good day, the Sabbath, and they met together for a good end. Now Paul took advantage of their meeting together on the Sabbath day. He cast his net and caught one with her family, namely, Lydia. The gospel was a sweet savor of salvation to her.

From this comes an account of Lydia, a short story of Lydia, a story worth thinking about, which is in the words of my text.

“A certain woman named Lydia.”

She is described, first, by her person and sex, “a certain woman”; by her name, “Lydia”; by her calling, “a seller of purple”; by her city, “Thyatira”; and by her godly disposition, “she worshipped God.” Then her conversion is set down by its cause: “God opened her heart.” Next comes what followed on that opening of her heart: “she attended to the things that were spoken by Paul,” and likewise, “she was baptized with all her household.” And then comes the sweet fruit that her conversion, with that of all her household, produced. At once she showed the blessed apostle and his company the love she felt from God in converting her: “She besought them, saying, If ye have judged me faithful to the Lord, come to my house.” I will unfold these words as I come to them.

“And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple.”

First, here is a description of her person, her sex, her name, her calling, her city and her disposition.

God takes notice of all the details of those who are his. He delights to speak of them. Those who have their names written in the book of life, he knows their names, their callings and their persons. They are jewels in his eyes. They are written on the palms of his hands (Isa 49:16). He takes more special notice of them than of the rest of the world. That is why the apostle is so precise in describing every detail.

About her person I will be very brief. I will offer only a remark or two, and so come to what I mainly aim at, her conversion.

“A certain woman named Lydia.”

As for her sex, she and the others who had gathered together were women, as we see in the previous verse. “In Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female” (Gal 3:28). Sin came in by a woman, and the means of salvation came by a woman too. Here was a company of women gathered together.

For the most part, women have sweet affections toward religion, and in this they often go beyond men.

Reason 1. The reason is that religion is seated especially in the affections, and women have sweet and strong affections.

Reason 2. Likewise, they are subject to weakness, and God delights to show his “strength in weakness.”

Reason 3. And third, women who bear children especially bring others into this life at the risk of their own. They are therefore driven into closer communion with God, because with every child they bring forth they are in peril of their lives. So the apostle here mentions a company of women who were gathered together, and among the rest, “a certain woman named Lydia.”

What! A woman to be the foundation of the church of Macedonia, a poor woman! And then afterward a jailer, a rugged, rough jailer! For these to be the foundation of so famous a church as Philippi, and of other churches in Macedonia! Oh yes! The kingdom of heaven is like “a grain of mustard seed” (Matt 13:31), small in its beginning. This is true of the church itself, and it is true of the grace that each particular member has. Its beginnings are little and weak. Christians are not like the angels, who were perfect from the first. The church grows little by little. So we should not be discouraged when the planting of the gospel has poor success at the beginning. We see that in the church of Macedonia there was little success at first: a woman and a rough jailer, a jailer who by his calling, his disposition and his habits was a hard man, and hardened too. Yet these two were the foundation of a great church.

Was it not just as strange among us? The church of later times, in the time of the Reformation, how did it begin? By a child and a woman: King Edward the Sixth and Queen Elizabeth of famous memory. Therefore, as the prophet says, “Who art thou that despisest the day of little things?” (Zech 4:10). Do not despise little things. Nothing is smaller than grace at its beginning. But as Christ, the stock of Jesse, rose from the dead, rose up to heaven and now overspreads the world, so every Christian rises from humble beginnings, and so does the church itself. “A certain woman named Lydia.” She was the foundation of a famous church.

Next she is described by her calling.

“A seller of purple.”

God allows callings.

The calling of Christianity is displayed in particular callings, which God sanctifies to subdue the excess of our corruptions. People without callings are exceedingly given to vice, as some gentlemen and beggars are. In this I may rank them together. I mean those who have no calling, who do not fit themselves for a calling, and who are outside any lawful calling.

Callings are lawful, and so is this calling of commerce and trade, “a seller of purple.” For the most part, people pick up a great deal of dirt and corruption by mixing their ways with the ways of those they deal with. Even so, there must be commerce, and this particular commerce of selling purple.

The human body needs many callings. There is not a part of the body, not one member, that does not set some particular calling to work. So this life is a life of many necessities, and there must be callings and trade, including this particular trade, selling purple. It may seem superfluous, but it is not altogether so, for garments serve three ends: necessity, ornament and distinction.

Now purple, though it is not for necessity, is for ornament and distinction, for magistrates and the like, persons of high rank. The pride of the times has bred a confusion in which one person will dress as finely as another. Yet God, who allows distinctions of callings and persons, allows distinction of dress and clothing. Therefore selling purple is lawful, and so is wearing rich clothing. “Kings’ daughters” went dressed in such garments, as it is said of David’s daughters.

That is, provided there is not too much delicacy. Delicacy in this matter is fatal in these times, for there are many in the city and in the country who are given to excessive fastidiousness and extravagance in this kind of thing. It is a forerunner of ruin.

Otherwise, it is lawful for those who are entitled to it to wear purple, just as it is lawful to sell purple. Only, as someone said to the great emperor, let people consider not so much the purple as that the purple covers dust and base flesh, which must turn to dust and ashes and rottenness before long. Then they will not be puffed up by something borrowed from a poor creature, from worms. It is a strange thing that people should be so sick in their imagination as to think themselves better for what they beg from a poor creature. Provided a person guards against vain fancy and pride, it is lawful to use purple. “She was a seller of purple.” So much for her calling.

“She worshipped God.”

She was perhaps a Jew who looked for a Messiah. There were three sorts of people before Christ: the Jews, those we call proselytes, and religious persons who feared God. She might have been one of the three; it is not certain which she was. Certainly she was one who feared God. She had some religion in her. Though she was not yet ripened in the true religion, she was a woman who feared God.

Passages like this give us occasion to speak of works of preparation. St. Paul was sent to her, and she was a woman who feared God. So let me speak a little about works of preparation.

It is true that God usually prepares those he means to convert, just as we plow before we sow. We do not sow among thorns, and we dig deep to lay a foundation; physicians purge before they give cordials. Preparations are usual both in nature and in grace, and so preparations are necessary. There is such a distance between grace and the nature and corruption of man that there must be a great deal of preparation, many steps to climb, before a person comes to the condition he ought to be in. Therefore we allow preparations, and their necessity.

But we hold this: all preparations come from God. We cannot prepare ourselves, or earn future things by our preparations, for the preparations themselves are from God.

And third, though we grant preparations, we grant them no force as a meritorious cause that could produce such an effect as conversion. No. Preparation only removes the hindrances and fits the soul for conversion, so that the distance between the soul and conversion is not as great as it would be without preparation.

Question. But when is preparation sufficient?

Answer. When the soul is cast down so far that it sets a high price on Christ, and on grace, above everything in the world. It counts grace the only pearl, and the gospel the kingdom of heaven. When a person sets a higher price on grace than on all the rest of the world, then he is sufficiently prepared.

Some poor souls think they are never prepared enough. But let them look to the end for which God requires preparation: that a high price be set on the best things, and that everything except grace be valued modestly, each in its own rank. When a person has been brought to the point where, by the light of the Spirit, he counts everything nothing compared with Christ, and is convinced that Christ must be had and that he must have saving grace, let him never debate whether he is prepared or not. This disposition shows that he is prepared enough, at least to bring him to conversion.

Now, in preparation God for the most part first civilizes people and then Christianizes them, if I may put it that way. For the Spirit of God will not work effectually in a rude, wild and barbarous soul, in people who are not yet truly human. So they must be brought to civility; and not only to civility, but there must also be a work of the law to cast them down. Then, on that basis, they are brought to Christianity.

So those who labor to break people of their natural rudeness and fierceness take a good course, for by nature every one of us is like “a wild ass colt.” There could be no more expressive words: “a colt, an ass colt, and wild” (Job 11:12). Now, there is no sowing in the sand or on the water. There is no forcing grace on a soul so far indisposed, that is, one not yet brought to civility. So with rude and barbarous souls, God’s way is to bring them within the bounds of civility; then, making them see what their condition is in the corruption of nature, to cast them down; and then to bring them to Christianity, as we see here in Lydia.

There is no force of a meritorious cause in preparations for grace that could raise the soul up to grace; alas, that cannot be. They have nothing in them to produce such a blessed effect. Yet they do bring a person nearer than other wild creatures who never come within the reach of the means. So, usually, to those who make good use of the talents they have, the talents of their understanding and will, God afterward reveals himself more and more.

So let everyone be encouraged to grow more and more in courses of civility and religion, and to wait for the good time until God shines on them in mercy. For though those courses can never produce true religion, they bring people into a closeness and nearness to God and Christ beyond those who stand further off. But I will not press this point further now. She was a woman that feared and worshipped God. She was faithful in the light she had, “and to him that hath shall be given” (Matt 13:12).

“She worshipped God.”

This was not by any sight of her own. She had the grace of God from the Spirit of God. All fear comes from the Spirit of God, both initial fear and ripened fear; all fear is from God. But I will not argue with opponents at this time. You see the person, a woman; her calling, “a seller of purple”; and her godly disposition: she was one who “worshipped God,” and she heard Paul.

The sweet providence of God brings those who belong to election within the reach of the means at one time or another. Let the devil and the devil’s instruments rage and oppose and do all they can; as for those who belong to God, God will have a time to bring them within the reach of his calling and to call them effectually by his Spirit. So it was here with Lydia. There was a sweet providence going before her that she never thought of. God brought an apostle for the salvation of her soul. She heard Paul and was converted. Now to come to the description of her conversion in the next words.

“Whose heart the Lord opened to attend to the things that were spoken of Paul.”

God opened her heart. To what purpose? “To attend to the things spoken of Paul.”

God, by the word preached, opens hearts to attend to the word. By the word we are fitted for the word. The Spirit and the word draw us to themselves; the Spirit and the word draw us to regard the word. By the word her heart was opened to attend to the word.

First, I will speak of the opening of her heart, and then of her attending to the word preached by Paul. “God opened her heart.” She was a religious woman, yet her heart was shut until God opened it. She was religious in her way, yet her heart had to be opened further before she could be saved. There is no stopping in preparations at this or that stage, as with the many abortive cases in our times, people who make many beginnings. They have the Spirit of bondage and are cast down, but there they stick and never come to maturity. But those who would attain salvation must not rest in religious dispositions, in good affections and gracious beginnings. They must go on further and further, as we see here: “God opened her heart.”

So observe these things in the opening of the heart.

1. The heart is naturally shut and closed up, as indeed it is to spiritual things. It is open enough to the world and to base pleasures here, but it is shut to heaven and heavenly things. By nature it is completely locked up. This is partly because of its own nature, being corrupt and earthly, and partly because Satan besieges all the senses and shuts everything up. There is a spirit of deafness and blindness, a spirit of darkness and deafness, in people until God by the powerful work of the gospel has brought them out of the kingdom of Satan, which possesses every person by nature. By nature, then, our hearts are not open but locked and shut up. That is assumed here. So unless God is merciful and breaks open the prison, as it were, in which unbelief and the wickedness of our nature have shut us up, there is no hope of salvation at all. God opens the heart.

2. The second thing is this: as our hearts are naturally shut and closed up, so God, and God alone, opens the heart, by his Spirit in the use of the means. God opened Lydia’s heart.

God has many keys. He has the key of heaven, to command the rain to come down. He has the key of the womb, the key of hell and the grave, and especially the key of the heart. “He opens, and no man shuts; and shuts and no man opens” (Rev 3:7). He has the key of the heart, to open the understanding, the memory, the will and the affections. God, and God only, has the key of the heart to open it. It is his prerogative. He made the heart, and he alone has to do with the heart. He can unmake it and make it new again, as locksmiths can do with locks. And if the heart is out of order, he can take it to pieces and reduce it to nothing, as it were, as it must be before conversion, and then he can make it a new heart again. It is God who opens the heart, and God only. All the angels in heaven cannot give one grace, not even the least grace. Grace comes altogether from God. It is entirely from God. All the creatures in the world cannot open the heart; only God can, by his Holy Spirit. For nature cannot act above its sphere, as we say, above its own power. Natural things can do only natural things. For nature to raise itself up to believe heavenly things is impossible. So just as you see vapors rise as high as the sun draws them up and no higher, so the soul of man is lifted up to heavenly things by the power of God’s Spirit. God draws us, and then we follow. God alone, I say, opens the heart.

(1) For there is not only a lack of strength in the soul to open itself, but there is also enmity and poison in the heart to shut itself, and shut out all goodness. A person has no senses for spiritual things: no eyes, no ears, no taste, no life.

(2) More than that, there is an opposition to all of it. “A natural man perceiveth not the things of God, neither can he” (1 Cor 2:14). He lacks the senses, and the senses he has are set against goodness; as the apostle says, “he esteemeth them foolishness.” I need not dwell long on so plain an argument, one you know well enough. By nature the heart is shut, and God alone must open it.

Use. This should teach us patience when, with all our instruction and correction, we can do little good with those under our care. Wait for the proper time. Grace is not yours to give. The heart is not yours to open, nor any other person’s. So, as Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:24-25, wait, and bear “with patience men of contrary minds,” waiting until God in due time gives them grace to repent. Grace is God’s creation. It is not our own. So let us take care not to be short-tempered and angry in spirit. If we cannot have all we would like from those under our care, children or servants, let us wait for God’s time. He opens the heart in his own time.

And if we do not find grace worked in our own hearts at the first, or second, or third sermon, let us do as the man at the pool of Bethesda did: lie there till the angel stirs the water, till God works effectually by his Spirit. God does it, and he alone does it; we must only wait. He will do it in his good time. Do not be too short-spirited. This we ought to observe from these words, “God opened the heart of Lydia.”

The heart is put for the whole soul. He opened her understanding to conceive, for all things begin with heavenly light in the understanding. All grace comes into the soul by way of the understanding.

There is no sanctifying grace in the affections except what comes by enlightening the understanding. We see its grounds first in the understanding. God opens the understanding, and then he opens the memory to retain. So that the memory may be like the pot of manna, to hold heavenly things, he opens it and strengthens it with the power of retention to keep them. And he opens the will to embrace holy things, and the affections to rejoice and delight in them. So the heart is the whole inward man.

He not only enlightens the understanding but pours grace into the will and affections, into the whole inward man. We must take the word in that full extent. Otherwise, if God only opened the understanding, and did not flow through the understanding into the will by the power of his Spirit, the will would always rebel; and indeed it is a poisonous thing. Next to the devil, there is nothing so malicious as the will of man. God will have one way, and it will have another. Therefore God does not only open the understanding to conceive; he also opens the will to take hold of and embrace what is good. Otherwise the will would take up arms against the understanding in what is good, and never come to the work of grace. Therefore take it so. He opened the will and affections as well as the understanding, though whatever is in the will and affections comes through the understanding, just as heat comes through light. God opened her heart. To what end?

“To attend to the things that were spoken of Paul.” The word signifies to apply and set her mind to the things that Paul said, to join and fasten the mind to what Paul said.

First, then, you see that here the opening of the heart comes before the attending. Before there can be any attending and applying of the mind, the mind must be sanctified and strengthened. The soul must be sanctified before it can attend.

The reason is that nothing can flow except from a suitable faculty, and the ability to attend is a power and act of the soul. It must come from a sanctified power of the soul. The heart must first be opened, and then the heart attends. God says he will circumcise the heart, and then we shall love him. He sanctifies the heart, and then it loves him. God changes and alters the frame of the soul, and then holy actions come from it. Grace begins first with the abilities and powers of the soul. The heart is opened, and then suitable holy actions follow. There is no proportion between holy actions and an unsanctified soul. The heart must first be opened, and then it attends.

“Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended…”

You see, then, in the next place, that when God opens the heart of any Christian, it is to carry the attention to the word. By grace God carries the heart to the word. She attended to what Paul spoke. Where true grace is worked, it does not carry a person to speculation, or to practicing this or that idle dream; but where the heart is open, grace carries it to attend to the word, especially to the good word, the gospel of Christ. As grace is worked by the word, so it carries the soul to the word.

Use. And therefore this may be a use of trial, to know whether our hearts have been worked on by the grace of God or not, whether God by his Spirit has opened our hearts or not: are our hearts carried to the blessed word of God, to relish it? If they are, God has opened our hearts to attend to the word. And there is no better evidence of a child of God than the one drawn from the affection he carries toward the word and blessed truth of God. Oh, he relishes it as his appointed food. He cannot be without it. Take that away, and you take away his life. “My sheep hear my voice” (John 10:27). You are none of mine, because you do not hear my word. A delight in the blessed truth of God is a proof that God has first opened the heart.

Therefore, poor souls, when they lack good evidence, when they doubt whether their state is good or not, let them consider what relish they have for divine truths: whether they have a nature akin to the word or not; whether it is savory to them or not; whether they could do without the means of salvation or not. And let them judge themselves by their delight in God’s truth. Her heart was opened to attend to the word.

“She attended to the things which were spoken of Paul.” These were the blessed truths of salvation: the forgiveness of sins, the free mercy of God in Christ. The particulars are not set down, but it was the gospel, and she believed upon it. Therefore it must have been the word of faith. We see here, then, that the seed and ground of faith is the gospel.

Her heart was opened to attend to what Paul spoke, which was the gospel. And indeed so it is. The foundation of faith, the word of faith, is the gospel. Nothing can breed faith but the word of God. For how can we hope for heaven and happiness except by the mind of God revealed? Can we look for anything unless God reveals his mind to bestow it? And where do we have the mind and bosom of God opened to us? Is it not in the Scriptures, the word of God, and especially in the good word? It is called “the word of grace,” and “the word of the kingdom,” and “of glory,” “the word of life,” because by it all these blessed things are conveyed to us.

Now it is not simply the word here, but the word “spoken by Paul.” That is, the word preached by an authorized minister is the usual means of faith. Her heart was opened to attend to what was spoken by Paul, an authorized minister. So the word preached is the ordinary, though not the only, foundation of faith. Therefore the apostle says that God converted the world by it, “by the foolishness of preaching” (1 Cor 1:21). And so in the ladder of heaven in Romans 10:14-15: “How shall they call on him of whom they have not heard? … and how shall they preach except they be sent?” So there is no faith without teaching. The point is plain; you hear it often. The word is the ground of faith, and especially the word as it is preached by a Paul, by a minister unfolding it.

Use. Therefore, as you care for the souls of God’s people, be stirred up to pray to God “to send laborers into his harvest” (Matt 9:38), and to pray that the gospel and its preaching may have free passage, that God would set up lights in all the dark corners of the kingdom, and everywhere for “those that are in darkness, and in the shadow of death” (Ps 107:10). And blessed is the endeavor of those who labor that the gospel may be preached in every part of the kingdom. For we see here that it is the word unfolded, “the unsearchable riches” of Christ spread open, the tapestry laid open, that usually begets faith. The mine must be dug; people must see it laid open in a plain and familiar way.

Therefore he says here that Lydia’s heart was opened, “and she attended to the words spoken by Paul.”

Let this teach us to set a high value on the ordinance of God. Does God set up an ordinance, and will he not give it virtue and power? Yes, he will. There is a majesty and a power in the word of God to pull people out of the kingdom of Satan into the blessed light of God’s kingdom. It was the word, and the word opened by the ministry of Paul.

But it was the word, and the word opened and attended to. She mixed it with her attention, and her heart embraced it. These three go together: the word, the word preached, and then attending to the word preached. That was the ground of her faith: these three meeting together.

There are four things that must always be present in the senses of our body. If we would see, there must be an object to see; we must see something. There must be a faculty to see, our eye. Then there must be a light by which we see; we cannot see in the dark. And then there must be an application of the eye to see the object by that light. So in spiritual things there is the blessed truth of God, the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. That we may see these things, we must have a light by which we may see them. And there must be a power to see, which is the sanctified, opened understanding. When the understanding is opened, then there is an application of the soul to attend to the word of God by the light of the word. So there must be application and attention to the word. Before the word can do us good, it must be applied, as the eye to the object and the taste to the thing tasted, and so in all the other senses.

Attention is a special thing. How many sermons are lost in this city, like seed drowned that never comes to fruit! I think there is no place in the world where there is so much preaching, and no place where so many sermons are lost. Why? Because people lack a retaining power and faculty to attend, and to retain and keep what we hear. She attended to the word preached.

To give a little direction on this point of attending and applying the mind (not to speak at length), I will name two or three principal things that I think fitting at this time.

1. If we would come to the word preached as we should, let us search out our needs before we come, and all the occasions we shall have to encounter; and let us forecast all the temptations we are likely to encounter by presenting them to our souls: “I am weak in knowledge, and I lack such and such graces. I am likely to encounter such temptations, and I am too weak for them. I shall meet with such adversaries, and I do not know how to answer them. I am plunged in such business, and I shall be lost in it without grace.” Then the soul comes with a mind to be supplied, and then it will attend, and will pray for the preacher: “Oh, Lord, direct him, that he may speak fitly to me: something for my understanding, something for my affections, something to help me against such and such a temptation.” This is what is lacking, and therefore we profit no more by the word than we do.

2. Then, when we come to hear the word, let us hear it with all spiritual subjection, as the word that has power to command the conscience: “This is the word of God. The minister of God speaks to me in the place of God. I must give an account of it. I will subject my conscience to it. It is spoken with evidence and proved; I will stoop to it.” Thus we should come with subjection of soul and conscience to whatever is taught, and not come to judge and criticize, or to delight in it as music, as if we came to a play to hear some pretty sayings. Rather, come to hear God, as coming to the ordinance of God; come as to that word which shall judge our souls at the last day. That is the way to attend.

3. Then again, if we would attend, when we have heard the word of God let us labor by all means to bring it near to us, that it may be an “engrafted word” (Jas 1:21); that the soul may be leavened by it; that it may be so engrafted in the understanding and affections that by its virtue we may think the better, and love and speak and do the better, as a scion takes on the savor of the plant it is put into. Let us labor that the word of God may be written in our souls, on the tablets of our hearts, so that the truth of God may be as near us as any temptation or any corruption is near us. What is the reason we yield to corruptions and temptations? They are near, and the word is far off. We never attended to the word to bring it near home. If the word were as near as corruptions and temptations, if it were engrafted and settled into the soul, we should have the word ready for every temptation. No temptation would be offered, and no corruption would arise, without our subduing it and beating it down with the blessed truth of God accompanied by the Spirit.

Let us labor to get it near us, so that the reasons of the word and our reason, the judgment of God and our judgment, the will of God and our own will, may be all one; and so to have it incorporated and naturalized into our hearts that we may speak and think and do nothing but what is divine. To have the word written in our hearts in this way: that is the end our attention should aim at.

Therefore, when we hear, we should do as nature does with the food we eat. It draws out a strength suitable for every part; every part has a power to draw out the nourishment that suits itself. So when we hear the word of God, we should be able to say, “This is good for such and such an end.” And we should never stop thinking about the word of God we have heard until we have turned the word into our souls: till we have it fixed in our understandings, so that we can say, “Now I know it”; till we have subdued our hearts to it, and are molded and delivered up to it, so that we can say, “Now I have it; now the word is mine.” Let us never leave the truth we hear till we are brought to that. Alas, to what purpose is it to hear unless we make it our own, as nature makes the food we eat our own? There is a second or third digestion that goes before digestion is perfectly made and the food turned into us. It is ruminating and meditating, and altering what we hear, and working upon it, that makes spiritual nourishment. Thus we should do if we would attend to good purpose.

4. And so that we may do this, let us add some meditations to these practices. Consider first of all whose word it is. It is the word of the great God, and the word of God for my good. It is the good word of God, and the word of God that brings me much good, eternal salvation, if I obey it. It is the word of God that brings eternal damnation if I do not obey it.

It is the word of the great King, a proclamation, a law by which I shall be judged, and perhaps a word that I shall not hear another time. Perhaps the Spirit may work more now than at another time. Therefore I will be wise and give way to the Spirit of God, and not beat it back. Perhaps I shall never have such a gale of the Spirit offered again. It may be the last sermon I shall hear while I live. We should have such meditations: we who speak, as if it were the last time we should speak; and you who hear, as if these should be the last things you should ever hear. For how do we know that it may not be so? Hearing is a far weightier matter than we take it to be.

“Take heed how ye hear,” says our blessed Savior (Luke 8:18). We hear nothing but it sets us forward, either in the way of grace to heaven or toward hell. We are either helped by it toward heaven or else hardened by it further toward hell. We need to take heed how we hear. We must be judged by what we hear, and what we hear now negligently and carelessly, God will make good at the day of judgment. We may shake off the minister’s exhortations, as profane spirits do; but will you shake off “Depart, ye cursed” at the last day (Matt 25:41)? Will you shake off that sentence, “You would not hear me, and I will not hear you”? Oh no. Therefore do not shake off now what will be made good then. If you welcome the gospel now, God will make it good then; if you receive mercy now, he will show then, before devils and angels and men, that you are acquitted. Let us regard this, and let it make us hear the word with attention, as this good woman did here. God opened her heart, “and she attended to the things that were spoken of Paul.”

Question. But you will ask, How shall I know a man whose heart is opened, and who attends better than another man does?

Answer. I will give two or three brief rules of discerning.

1. He who by the Spirit of God attends to the good word of God to good purpose, with an opened understanding, knows not only the words and the shell in the preaching of the word of God, but the things. He knows not only what faith and repentance are in words; he has a spiritual light to know what the things are: what repentance is, and faith, and love, and hope, and patience. He knows the things. And likewise, he who has attended to good purpose can do the things. He not only knows what he should do; by the grace of the Spirit, and by attending upon the word of God, he knows how to do them. Grace teaches him not only that he should deny himself and “live soberly, and righteously, and godly” (Titus 2:12), but it teaches him how to live soberly, righteously, and godly. When we attend upon the word as we should, grace teaches us to do the things: not only that we should repent and pray, and so on, but to do them. It opens the things and gives ability to do them.

2. And in the next place, in those who attend as they should, there is a spiritual echo in their souls to everything that is taught. That is, when they are exhorted to believe, they answer, “Lord, I will believe. Lord, I will hear, I will repent, and I will take heed of such sins by your grace.” When God says, “Seek my face,” the answer comes, “Lord, thy face will I seek” (Ps 27:8). This is the answer of a good conscience, this echo. Where there is attention to the word of God by the Spirit, there is an echo to what the Spirit speaks: “Lord, it is good, and it is good for me if I yield to this. If I do not, it is evil for me to put off repentance till another day. I desire to yield now, and oh, that my heart were directed!” If the heart is rebellious and unyielding, there is still a desire that it may be brought into subjection to every truth revealed. There is a gracious echo in those who attend to good purpose.

3. Then again, those who attend from sanctifying grace see things by another light: by a spirit of their own, by a heavenly light, by an image proper to their own kind, spiritual things with a spiritual light. Many come and hear sermons, and can discourse and wrangle and keep up squabbles of their own, and all this out of natural gifts and out of pride of heart. But a gracious, holy man sees spiritual things by a spiritual light, in their own kind.

When a man who was born in a dungeon and has never seen the light hears people talk of the sun and stars, and the earth, and flowers, and plants, he forms ideas of what they must be like, but what he pictures are other things. In the same way, a man who never had spiritual eyesight to see spiritual things in their own kind imagines them to be this and that, but he does not see them by their own light. Many speak and talk of good things, but it is by the spirit of other men, out of books and hearing, and not by a spirit of their own. He who attends by grace speaks out of a spirit of his own, and not out of other men’s spirits. He sees spiritual things in their own colors. Thus we see how to discern spiritual attention.

4. And he who knows what this means, what it is to have his heart opened to attend, judges how he has profited when he goes away from hearing the word. He judges it not by what he can say by heart, but by how much meeker he is, how much more patient, how much more able to bear the cross, to resist temptations, and to have communion with God. So he values his attending on the means and his hearing of the word by the growth of his grace and the decay of his corruptions. “She attended to the things that were spoken of Paul” (Acts 16:14).

“She was baptized, and her household” (Acts 16:15).

She had the means of salvation, and she had the seal as well, which is baptism. We all need seals. We need to have our faith strengthened. God knows this better than we do ourselves. We think baptism and the Lord’s Supper are small matters, but God knows how prone we are to stagger. He knows that all the seals there are will be little enough. Therefore it is said here, “She was baptized, and all her household.” Baptism is a solemn thing; it is the seal of the covenant of grace. You are well enough acquainted with the subject, I imagine, so I will not enter into a general treatment of it. It is needless. As the whole Trinity was present at the baptism of Christ, so every infant who is baptized is the child of Christ. And it is something we should especially meditate on.

We slight our baptism and think it needless. You see that this holy woman wanted to be baptized immediately; she wanted the seal of the covenant. There are many who are not book-learned, who cannot read, or at least have no leisure to read. I wish they would read their baptism as their book. If they would consider what it ministers to them on every occasion, they would be far better Christians than they are.

Think of your baptism when you come to God, especially when he seems angry. It is the seal of the covenant. Bring the promise: “Lord, this is the seal of your covenant. You went before me with your grace; you brought me into the covenant before I knew my right hand from my left.” So too, when we go to church to offer our service to God, let us remember that by baptism we were consecrated and dedicated to God. We not only receive grace from God; we also give ourselves to God. Therefore it is sacrilege for baptized persons to yield to temptations to sin. We are dedicated to God in baptism. When we are tempted to despair, let us think of our baptism. We are in the covenant of grace, and we have received the seal of the covenant, baptism. The devil is an uncircumcised, damned, cursed spirit. He is outside the covenant. But I am in the covenant. Christ is mine; the Holy Spirit is mine; and God is mine. Therefore let us stand against all the temptations of that uncircumcised, unbaptized, damned spirit.

Thinking of our baptism in this way will help us “to resist the devil” (Jas 4:7). He is a coward; if he is resisted, he will flee. And what will resist him better than the covenant of grace and its seal? When we are tempted to sin, let us think, “What have I to do with sin? By baptism I have union with the death of Christ. He died to take away sin, and my aim must be his. I must abolish sin in my nature. Shall I yield to what I swore against in baptism?” Then again, if we are tempted to despair because of sin, let us call to mind the promises of grace and of the forgiveness of sins, and the seal of the forgiveness of sins, which is baptism. For as the water in baptism washes the body, so the blood of Christ washes the soul. Let us make this use of our baptism in temptations: not to despair because of sin.

And in our dealings with others, let us labor to maintain the unity of the Spirit “in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3), to live peaceably. Christians must not fall to quarreling. Why? “There is one faith, and one baptism” (Eph 4:5). Have we “not all one Father” (Mal 2:10), one inheritance, one baptism, one religion? And shall we break with one another over trifles? Those who are so given to quarrels forget their baptism. So if we would think about it, our baptism is a book that would be ready at hand for every service.

And then for our children, those whom God has committed to us, let us make use of baptism. Do they die in their infancy? Make this use of it: “I have an assured hope that my child has gone to God. He was born in the covenant and had the seal of the covenant, baptism. Why should I doubt the salvation of my child?” If they live to years of discretion, then take good comfort: “He is God’s child more than mine. I have dedicated him to God and to Christ. He was baptized in the name of Christ, and Christ will care for him as well as for me. If I leave my children behind me, they are God’s and Christ’s children. They have received the seal of the covenant, baptism. Christ will provide for them. And he who provides heaven for them will provide all things necessary on the way to heaven.” God has said, “I will be the God of thee and of thy children” (Gen 17:7). They are in covenant. “They were yours, Lord.” A man may commit his children to God on his deathbed: “You gave them to me, and I commit them to you again, as I did before by baptism.” All this we have by thinking of our baptism. If, like profane spirits, we look no further than the water and the elements, we can have no comfort from these things. But we should consider God’s blessed institution and ordinance to strengthen our faith. And to our children, when they come of age, baptism is an obligation to believe, because they have received the seal beforehand; and it is a means to believe. “She was baptized.”

“And her household.”

So good is God that where the head of the household is good, he makes the whole household good, because that head makes it a matter of conscience to govern and instruct them. God crowns their efforts with success, so that they all become good. We see this in Abraham and his household, the jailer and his household, Zacchaeus and his household. Oh, it is a blessed thing to be a good head of a household! He brings a blessing upon his house; the church of God is in his house. There can be no more honorable title given to any house than to say that it is the church of God: that the head of the household brings everyone into subjection to God; that as he will have all serve him, so he will have all serve God; that he will not have a servant who is not the servant of God, nor a child who is not the child of God; and that he labors to make his wife the spouse of Christ. This should be said of every Christian family, and then they are churches.

Alas, in many places now they are hells, because little regard is given to instructing them. Beloved, many poor souls have had reason to bless God forever that they were grafted into such good families. And suppose that at times you have instructed them and taken pains, and no good has been done. When you are dead, twenty years later, all that instruction may come back to their minds when they are in worse families: “Oh, in such a place, with such a master, I had such instruction, but I had no grace to benefit from it. But now I call it to mind.” So the seed that was sown long before may take effect then. This should encourage those who are heads of households to be good. “Lydia was baptized, and her household.”

“And she besought them, saying, If you have judged me faithful to the Lord, come to my house, and abide there” (Acts 16:15).

Here is the fruit of Lydia’s conversion. When she was converted and baptized, she entreated the apostles to come to her house and stay there, and she prevailed. She constrained them by a moral kind of force; they allowed themselves to be overcome.

“If you have judged me faithful… come to my house, and abide there.”

Here is her invitation, and the argument by which she presses it: If you have judged me faithful to Christ, then come to my house. Let me speak a little of her argument, by which she compelled the blessed apostle and the rest to come to her house.

“If ye have judged me faithful.”

It is a most binding argument. If you judge me faithful, you must judge me a child of God, an heir of heaven, the spouse of Christ; you must judge me all these things and the like. “If you have judged me faithful, come to my house.” And if you judge me so, can you deny me this courtesy? It is a solemn, wonderfully forceful argument: “If you have judged me faithful.”

It implies that otherwise St. Paul and other holy men would keep more distance. So there should be no intimate familiarity with those who are not faithful. There may be ordinary dealings with them, but not familiarity. To behave indifferently toward everyone alike shows a rotten heart, as in those who make no difference between good Christians and formal hypocrites. No. But “if you have judged me faithful, come to my house.” It is as if she had said, “I know your spirits are such that unless you judge me faithful, you will not accept this courtesy at my hands.”

Again, she assumed that if Paul judged her faithful, he would not deny her that courtesy. We should be gentle and easy to be entreated toward those whom we judge faithful on good grounds. That is the nature of “the wisdom that is from above” (Jas 3:17). Grace sweetens a man’s behavior and alters his disposition. Those who have felt pity from God are merciful to others. “Therefore, if you have judged me faithful…”

It was a sign of a great deal of sincerity to appeal to their knowledge and judgment: “If you have judged me faithful.”

If she had not been sincere, she would not have done so. But sincerity makes a man bold to appeal to God himself. “Lord, thou knowest that I love thee,” says St. Peter (John 21:15). And David says, “If there be any iniquity in my heart” (Ps 66:18). The sincere dare to appeal to God and to God’s people: “If ye have judged me faithful.”

In this speech she also desires to have her standing confirmed by the apostles. And indeed it is a great confirmation to weak Christians to have the judgment of strong Christians that they are good. “If you have judged me faithful,” do me this courtesy. And would it not comfort her soul to have the judgment of so strong a man as Paul?

It is a great strengthening to have not only the Spirit of God bearing witness for us, but also the Spirit of God in others. And sometimes in temptations, when we are in a dark state, the judgment of others will do us more good than our own. Therefore we should appeal to those who fear God to judge us faithful, even though we are sometimes in such a mist and darkness that we are not able to judge our own condition.

And indeed, when we judge people to be truly good and true-hearted toward God, we owe them this duty: to think them good people and to show it. It is a debt. We wrong good persons when we form wrong opinions of them. Shall we not choose and love those whom God loves? It is as if she had said, “God has taken me into his family and will admit me to heaven, and will you not come to my house?” When Christ takes men to be members of his body, shall we not take them into our company? It is a wrong to good people to be distant toward them. Sometimes, by way of rebuke for some sin, there may be a little distance, but habitual distance does not become Christians. It does not suit that sweet bond, “the communion of saints.” “If you have judged me faithful”: that is the bond. Her invitation is:

“Come to my house, and abide there.”

You see many sweet graces immediately after she believed. Here is a loving heart. Why did she want them to come to her house? To express the love she bore them for their work’s sake. She had felt the love of Christ through their ministry, and now she wanted to show the fruit of her love by supporting them.

And not only that, but she wanted to be built up by them. She was newly planted, and she wanted to be watered by them. She knew Paul would let fall heavenly things and give her what might establish her. Therefore she wanted them to stay at her house, so that she might benefit from their heavenly conversation and be built up and edified further and further.

So you see these two graces especially, right upon her believing: a bountiful, loving heart. She entreated them not only to come to her house but to stay there a good while, as they did. And here was her desire to be edified, and a boldness to appear openly to own Christ and his ministers in dangerous times. For in those times it was a dangerous thing to appear to be a Christian. Christians were hated worse than the Jews were. Though both were hated, Christians were hated above all. Therefore false Christians would be “circumcised”; they would be Jews to avoid the cross, so that they might not be counted Christians.

You see in general that true faith works love and works by love. It works love in the heart, and by love it performs all the duties of hospitality and generosity. When it has produced that holy affection, it works by that holy affection. You see here that it is never without fruit; faith immediately brings forth fruit. As soon as she was baptized, she showed her love to the apostles and their company, her generosity, and her boldness in the cause of Christ.

We say of a graft that it has been grafted to good purpose if it takes and bears fruit. So she, being a new shoot grafted into Christ, took at once. As soon as she was baptized into Christ, here is the fruit of love, and generosity, and boldness in the cause of Christ. As soon as Zacchaeus believed, he said, “Half my goods I give to the poor” (Luke 19:8). So too we see the jailer afterward: immediately upon believing, he entertained the apostles with a feast and washed their wounds.

Beware of a barren, dead faith. It is a false faith. If you truly believe, faith will work love and work by love, as it did in this blessed woman. Her faith knit her to Christ in heaven. Her love was like the branches of the tree. Her faith knit her to the root, but love, like the branches, reached out to others; her branches held out fruit to the apostle and his company. So it is the nature of faith to knit us to Christ, and the same spirit of love knits us to others and holds out fruit to all we deal with.

As we desire to have evidence of the soundness of our faith, let us see what spirit of love we have, especially love toward these three things:

1. Love to Christ, into whom we are engrafted.

2. Love to the ministers of Christ. We cannot show kindness to Christ himself; he is in heaven. But his ministers and his poor are on the earth. When we can, let us buy ointment to pour on Christ’s feet, that is, on his poor members and his ministers.

3. And love to the word of God. These are the three outflowings of a gracious, believing heart, and where they are absent there is no faith at all.

I beseech you, let us imitate this blessed woman. You see here that the name of Lydia is precious in the church. The name of Lydia, as is said of Josiah, is a box of ointment poured out. The name of Lydia cannot be mentioned in the church without a sweet fragrance accompanying it. As soon as she believed, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, blowing upon the garden of her heart where the spice of grace had been sown, stirred up a sweet scent of faith, of generosity and of liberality in the cause of Christ.

Let this not be in vain for us; let every one of us labor to be like Lydia. You see what magnet drew Paul here to go to her house: she had faith, and she expressed it in love.

Let us labor to have faith and to express it in love to God, to Christ, to his people, and to his word and ordinances, which bear his stamp. And let us boldly own the cause of Christ. Let us not regard the censures of vain men who say this and that. Faith and love forget danger; they are bold. She forgot all the danger she was in by standing with Paul and such men.

Let us labor for faith and love, and we will not say this and that: “There is a lion in the way” (Prov 26:13). Instead we will go on boldly until we receive the end of our faith and love, “the salvation of our souls” (1 Pet 1:9).

Fools, because of their transgressions, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. (Ps 107:17)

This Psalm contains some passages concerning God’s particular, sweet providence, not only toward the church but toward other men as well. For he who created all things, even the lowest creature, must have a providence over all things; his providence must extend as far as his creation. For what is providence but a continuation of creation, a preserving in being of those things to which God has given a being? The prophet here deliberately opposes the profane notions of those who think God sits in heaven and lets things go on earth as if he did not care about them. It was the fault of the best philosophers to ascribe too much to second causes. The psalmist here shows that God has a most particular providence in everything. First he sets it down in general, and then he branches it out into particulars, especially four, in which he specifies God’s providence.

The first instance is of those who wander in the wilderness hungry and thirsty (Ps 107:4): they cry, and God regards them.

The second instance is this: “They that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in iron, they cry, and the Lord heareth them” (Ps 107:10).

The third is in the words of the text: “Fools for their transgressions are afflicted; their soul abhorreth all manner of meat.” Here he gives the instance of sickness, the most ordinary affliction, and shows that God has a most particular providence even in that.

The fourth is this: Those that go down into the sea, they see the proofs of God’s particular providence (Ps 107:23).

Since the fall, the life of man has been subject to a great many troubles, which we have brought on ourselves by our sins. Now, in all this variety, it is a comforting thing to know God’s care for us in our wanderings and imprisonments, in our sickness, and so on. But to pass over the other three and come to what belongs to this passage, that is, the instance of God’s providence in sickness:

“Fools, because of their transgressions, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.”

In these words you have, first, the cause of this visitation, and of all the grief he speaks of: “transgression and iniquity.” Then you have the kind of this visitation: sickness. And its extremity, in two branches: “Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat,” and second, “They draw near to the gates of death.” Then you have the behavior of the afflicted and sick: “They cry unto the Lord in their distress.” Then the remedy, from the universal and great Physician: “He saves them out of their distress.” And the manner of this remedy: “He sent his word and healed them,” his effective and commanding word, so that it works as he commands. Lastly, there is the fee that this high Commander asks for. All the tribute or reward he expects is praise and thanksgiving: “Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness, and his wondrous works for the children of men.”

So you see that this Scripture contains several passages between God and man, in misery and in deliverance. In misery, God afflicts man for his sin. Man’s passage to God is, he cries to God. God’s passage back again is his deliverance, and then man’s return back again must be “thanksgiving.” So here is a double visitation: a visitation in justice, God correcting sin; and then a visitation in mercy, as God restores them upon their crying and praying. And then comes man’s duty, “thanksgiving.” But let us proceed in order.

“Fools, because of their transgressions…”

Here you have, first, the character of the persons described: “fools.” By “fools” we must understand wicked fools. They are not the kind of fools who, as we say, are fit to be “begged” for as wards of the court because they are defective in their natural reason. They are the “wise fools” of the world. These are the chief of fools. Though they may not be found fools in the courts of men, yet they are fools in the estimation of God, who is wisdom itself. Those who think themselves wise, who are wise in their own conceit, are the fools meant here.

In the phrasing of Scripture and the language of the Holy Spirit, every sinner is a “fool.” It would be a disgraceful term if any man were to use it; but let no one stumble at it. It comes from the wise God, who knows what wisdom is and what folly is. If a fool calls a man a “fool,” he pays it no mind. But if a wise man, and especially the “God of wisdom,” calls a man a “fool,” he has reason to pay attention. Who can judge of wisdom better than God, who is “only wise”?

Why are wicked men fools, and God’s children too, so far as they yield to their lusts?

In various respects.

1. First, for lack of discernment in all the conduct and affairs of their lives. You know that a fool is one who cannot discern the difference between things, who is defective in his judgment. It is discernment and judgment above all that show a man to be a fool, when he cannot tell pearls from pebbles, or jewels from ordinary, base things. So wicked men are defective in their judgments. They cannot rightly discern between spiritual and heavenly things and other things. Every one of your worldly fools hunts after things meaner than himself and places his happiness in them; he takes shadows for substance.

2. A fool is led by his moods and his lust, just as a beast is. So there is no wicked man who shakes off the fear of God, which is true wisdom (Prov 1:7), who is not led by his moods, passion, and affection toward some earthly thing. Now a man can never be wise and passionate at once, except in one case: when the good is so surpassing that no passion can match it, as with zeal in divine matters. That will excuse any behavior that would otherwise be extravagant. When David “danced before the ark,” a person would have thought it a foolish business if it had not been a divine one (2 Sam 6:14). When the matter is wonderfully great, so that it deserves any height of affection, then a man may be eager and wise together. But for the things of this life, for a man to unsettle himself and others, to hunt after a “vain shadow,” as the psalmist says, after riches and honor, and to neglect the main purpose of a man’s life, is extreme folly. A man who is passionate in this respect cannot be wise.

All fools are passionate, and wicked men have their affections set deeply on something other than God. For passion shows things in a false mirror, just as the sun seems bigger when a man sees it through a cloud. When men look on things not by the judgment of the Scripture, the Spirit of God, and right reason, but through their affections, things appear to them other than they are, and afterward they see themselves to be fools. Take a worldling on his deathbed, or in hell. He sees himself a fool then. When his drunkenness is past, when he has come to himself and is sober, he sees that all his lifetime he has been grasping after shadows. Wicked men who are carried by their lusts toward earthly things cannot be wise. That is why the “rich man” in the Gospel is called a “fool” (Luke 12:20); and in Jeremiah 17:11 the prophet speaks of a man who labors all his lifetime, and in the end is a fool.

Is not a man a fool who will carry a burden and load himself on his journey more than he needs to? And is not a man a spiritual fool who “loads himself with thick clay,” as the prophet calls it (Hab 2:6), and makes his pilgrimage more cumbersome than it needs to be? Is not a man a “fool” who lays the heaviest weight on the weakest point, who puts off the heaviest burden, repentance, to the time of sickness and trouble and death, when all his troubles meet, as it were, in one center, and he has enough to do to wrestle with his sickness?

3. Again, a man is a “fool” who will play with edged tools, who makes a sport of sin. He is a “fool” who provokes his betters, who shoots arrows upward and throws stones up that will fall on his own head. He who darts out oaths and blasphemies against God will have them come back down upon his own head (Ps 7:16). There are many such fools. “God will not hold them guiltless” (Exod 20:7).

4. He is a “fool” who does not know, or who forgets, his end. Every wicked man forgets the purpose for which he lives in the world. He comes into the world, and lives, and is turned out of the world again, and never considers the work he has to do here. Instead, he is carried like a “fool” by his affections and passions toward earthly things, as if he had been born only for them. A wise man has an end set before him in all that he does, and he works toward that end. Now there is no man but a sound, sanctified Christian who has a right end and who works toward it. Other men claim that they have an end, and that they would serve God, and so on.

They profess heaven, but they work earthward; like moles, they dig in the earth. They do not work toward the end they claim to set before themselves. All men, however clever they may be otherwise in worldly matters, are but “fools.” As we say of owls, they can see, but only by night; so wicked men are clever, but only in works of darkness. They are wise “in their own generation,” among men like themselves. But this life is not where folly and wisdom can best be discerned. That will appear at the hour of death and at the day of judgment. Then those will be found wise who are wise for eternity, who have provided for how it will go with them when all earthly things fail them. And those will be found “fools” who have only a narrow cleverness for the particular affairs of this life, to contrive particular ends while neglecting the main one. They are penny-wise and pound-foolish. Ahithophel was a clever, wise man, and his counsel was an oracle (2 Sam 16:23), yet he was not wise enough to prevent his own destruction.

5. He is a madman, a “fool,” who hurts and wounds himself. No one else will do that. Wicked, carnal men wound and hurt and stab their own consciences. Oh, if anyone did them even a thousandth part of the harm that they do themselves every day, they would not put up with it! They gall their consciences and load them with many sins, and they do it to themselves.

It is therefore a deserved title that is given them. With this term of folly God confronts the pride of men. For a wicked man is careful above all things to avoid being called a “fool.” Count him whatever you like, so long as you also count him a shrewd man who can outwit others, crafty and wise. He glories in a reputation for wisdom, though God counts him a fool, and he will be found to be one afterward. So, to bring down the pride of men, God casts a disgraceful term over their wit and learning and calls them fools.

Use 1. This should humble any man who is not a true and sound Christian: the “God of wisdom,” and the Scripture (that is, God’s word), considers all wicked men, whatever they may be, to be “fools,” and fools even by their own judgment, if they are not atheists, if they will grant the principles they profess to believe.

Let this, then, make sin weigh all the more heavily in your thoughts when you are tempted to commit any sin. Oh, besides being a transgression and rebellion against God’s commandment, it is “folly in Israel,” and it will be “bitterness in the end.”

Use 2. Is not a man a “fool” who will do something in an instant that he may repent of for many years afterward? Is not a man foolish, in the matter of diet, who will eat something he will complain of for a long time afterward? No one is that foolish in outward things. So when we are tempted to sin, let us think: Is it not folly to do this, when the time will come that I will wish it undone, at the cost of a whole world, if I had one to give?

Use 3. And let us beg of God the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, to judge rightly of things, the eye-salve of the Spirit of God, to discern of things that differ (Rev 3:18); to judge spiritual riches to be best, and spiritual nobility and excellence to be best; and to judge sinful courses to be base, however gainful they may otherwise be. Let us labor for grace. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov 9:10). Those who do not fear the Lord have no wisdom.

Use 4. And pay no heed to the empty censures of wicked men. You are held back from practicing religious duties and from a conscientious course of life. Why? Perhaps you will be counted a fool. By whom? By those who are fools indeed, in the judgment of him who is wisdom indeed, God himself. Who would care about being counted a fool by a fool? We see that the Scripture here judges wicked men to be “fools.”

We must not apply this only to wicked men. Even God’s children, when they yield to their corruptions and passions, are foolish for the time. So in Psalm 38:5: “My wounds stink and are corrupt, because of my foolishness”; and in Psalm 73:22: “So foolish was I and ignorant.” Therefore, when any base thought of God’s providence comes into our minds, or any temptation to sin, let us count it “folly.” And when we are overtaken by any sin, let us call ourselves fools and judge it to be foolishness, as God does. This is the ground and foundation of repentance. So much for the character of the persons described here, “fools.”

I come to the cause.

“Because of their transgressions, and because of their iniquities.”

Transgression refers especially to rebellion against God and his ordinances in the first table of the law. Iniquity refers to the breach of the second table, against men. Both of these have their rise from folly. For lack of wisdom causes rebellion against God and iniquity against men. All breaches of God’s will come from spiritual folly.

Why does he begin with transgressions against the first table, and then iniquities, the breach of the second?

Because all breaches of the second table issue from the breach of the first. A man is never unjust to his neighbors without first rebelling against God’s will in the first table; and the foundation of obedience and duty to man rises from man’s obedience to God. That is why the second table is like the first: that is, our love to our neighbor is like our love of God. It is not only like it; it springs from it. For everything comes from the love of God. So the first commandment of the first table runs through all the commandments: “Thou shalt honor God,” and honor man because we honor God.

A man never denies obedience to his superior, to the magistrate, and so on, without first denying it to God. A man never wrongs man without first disobeying God. Therefore the apostles in the Scriptures build the duties of the second table on the first. St. Paul always begins his epistles with the duties to God and religion, and when he has discharged that, he comes to parents and masters and children and servants and such particular duties. For the spring of our duty to man is our duty to God, and the first justice is the justice of religion toward God. When we are not just in giving God his due, all the breaches in our civil conduct and dealings with men follow from it.

Men do this for lack of the fear of God. As Joseph said, “How shall I do this, and offend God?” (Gen 39:9). And Abraham, when he imagined they would abuse his wife, said, “Surely the fear of God is not here” (Gen 20:11). Therefore he thought they would not be afraid to do anything. Whoever does not fear God will not be afraid to violate the second table if opportunity allows. Whoever fears God will reason, “How shall I do this?” How shall I wrong another in his name and reputation, or in his estate, and sin against God? For I cannot sin against man without first sinning against God. That is why he sets it down this way: transgressions and iniquities.

See the unhappy succession of sin: where there is transgression there will be iniquity. Once a man yields to lust, he immediately breaks in upon God’s due, and then upon man’s. One sin draws on another. Just as we see David giving way to one sin, and it brought on another, so when a man gives way to transgression, neglecting the word of God and the duties of religion, another sin soon follows, the neglect of duty to men.

Use. Beware of the beginnings of sin. There are degrees in Satan’s school, from bad to worse, until we come to the worst of all; and there is no stopping. It is like going down a steep hill. Let us stop at the beginning by every means. If we would avoid iniquity, let us beware of transgression.

“Are afflicted.”

He means especially the affliction of sickness, as appears from the words that follow.

Doctrine. Sin is the cause of all sickness. “Fools, for their transgressions and iniquities, are afflicted.” For God’s quarrel is chiefly against the soul, and against the body because of the soul. I will not dwell on this point, since I have spoken of it at length on another text (1 Cor 11:31).

Use 1. The use I will make of it now is, first of all, this: if sin is the cause of all sickness, let us justify God and condemn ourselves. Let us complain of ourselves, and not of God. “Wherefore doth the living man complain” (Lam 3:39), and murmur and fret? A man suffers for his sin. Justify God, and judge ourselves. “I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him” (Mic 7:9). “Judge ourselves, and we shall not be judged” (1 Cor 11:31).

Use 2. Then again, is sin the cause of sickness? It should teach us patience. “I held my tongue, because thou, Lord, didst it” (Ps 39:9). Should not a man be patient in what he has brought on himself by his own evil and sin?

Use 3. And let us search ourselves. For usually it is for some particular sin, which conscience will tell a man of; and sometimes the kind of punishment will tell him. For sins of the body, God punishes in the body. He pays men back in their own coin. “What measure a man measureth to others shall be measured to him again” (Matt 7:2). If a man has been cruel to others, God will stir up those who will be cruel to him. Therefore we should labor to part with our particular transgressions and iniquities. This is a general truth for all ills whatever, as well as for this one of sickness.

Therefore we should first of all go to God by confessing our sin. The atheistic, careless world takes a backward course: where the physician ends, there the divine begins, when they no longer know what to do. If diseases come from sin, then make use of the divine first, to instruct the conscience and to acquaint a man with his own mercy. First he must search them and let them see the guilt of their sins, and then speak comfort to them and set the accounts straight between God and them.

So it is in Psalm 32:4, an excellent passage. David “roared; his moisture was turned into the drought of summer.” What course does he take? He does not run straight to the physician but goes to God. “Then said I.” It was an inward resolution and speech of the mind: then I concluded with myself, “I will confess my sin to God, and thou forgavest my iniquities and sins” (Ps 32:5). So body and soul were healed at once.

In this, divinity surpasses all other arts. It surpasses not only corrupt nature and corrupt courses, but every other art. For the physician looks to the cause of the sickness outside a man or within a man. Outside a man, especially in contagious sickness, he looks to the influence of the heavens: in such a year there have been such conjunctions and such eclipses. He looks to the infection of the air, to subordinate causes, to contagious company, to diet, and so on. And then within a man, he looks to the disorder of the humors and of the spirits. When the instrument of nature is out of tune, that is the cause of sickness.

But the divine, and every Christian (who should be a divine in this respect), goes higher and sees the whole discord between God and us. That sweet harmony is not there. And so all the jarring in second causes comes from God, as the cause who inflicts it, and from sin, as the cause that deserves it. The divine always considers those two. The physician looks to the inward disorder and the outward contagion; and this is good, and may be done without sin. But men must join this to it as well: to look into their conscience and look up to God, together with looking to the physician for help, because it is above all with God that we have to deal.

I wish this were considered, so that we might bear ourselves in a more Christian way under any affliction whatever. Why is it that people murmur and struggle and strive “as a bull in a net,” as the prophet says (Isa 51:20), when God entangles them in some judgment? They look to the second causes, and never seek to clear the conscience of sin, and never look to God, when in fact the ground of it all is God offended by sin.

“Fools for their transgressions are afflicted.” By our sins we put a rod into God’s hand, “a rod for the fool’s back,” as Solomon says (Prov 26:3). And when we insist on being fools, we must expect to endure the scourge and the rod in one form or another. Those who will sin must look for a rod. It is the fitting reward of wicked and empty fools, who “make a jest of sin” (Prov 14:9). As the wise man says, “They cast firebrands, and say, Am I not in jest?” (Prov 26:18). Such are those who rail at and scorn good things, who swear and carry themselves in a loose, ridiculous, scandalous fashion, as if God did not see their behavior, and yet say, “Am I not in jest?” Well, it is no jesting matter.

Sin is like a secret poison; perhaps it does not work at once. In these days (in which the devil has sharpened men’s wits) some subtle poisons are made that may not work until a year later. So it is with sin: once it is committed, perhaps it does not kill at once, but “there is death in the pot” (2 Kgs 4:40). You are a child of death as soon as ever you have committed sin. As Salvian says well, “You perish before you perish.” The sentence is upon you. You are a dead man. God prolongs your days to wait for your repentance; but as soon as you have sinned without repenting, you are a “child of death.” And as poison that works secretly for a while yet shows itself in time, so at last the fruit of sin will be death. Sin and death came in together. Beware of all sin; it is no matter to trifle with.

“Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat.”

This is one branch of the extremity of the sickness: the loathing of food. For God has set a correspondence between the food that is necessary for man and man’s relish of it. Man must be sustained while he is in this world, and his natural moisture must be supplied and repaired by nourishment, as it is spent by the natural heat that feeds upon it. Therefore God has put a sweetness into food, so that man might delight to do what is necessary. For who would care for food if it were not necessary? Since it is necessary, God has put delightful tastes in foods to draw men to use them, to preserve their being for the serving of him. Now when these things have no savor, when a man’s taste is so disordered that he cannot judge rightly of food, when the palate is corrupted, sickness must follow. For a man cannot do what should maintain his strength; he cannot feed on the creatures God provides. Therefore the psalmist, in setting down the extremity of sickness, says, “Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat.” The great Physician of heaven and earth sets this down as a symptom of a sick state, when one cannot relish and digest food. Experience seals this truth and proves it to be true.

You see, then, how unstable and empty is the happiness of epicures, whose chief good lies in created things! By sickness God can make them disrelish “all manner of meat”; and where, then, is the highest good of all your belly-gods, your sensual persons?

Again, his saying, “Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat,” should teach us to bless God not only for food, but for appetites to eat it. It is a common blessing, and therefore forgotten. It is a double blessing when God provides daily for our outward man and then gives an appetite to relish his goodness in the creatures. Sometimes a poor man lacks food and has an appetite; sometimes a rich man lacks an appetite when he has food. Those who have both have cause to bless God, because it is a judgment when God takes away the appetite, so that men “abhor and loathe all manner of meat.”

Therefore, if we would maintain thankfulness to God, let us labor to thank God for common blessings. What if God should take away a man’s appetite? We see his condition here: he is “at the gates of death.” Therefore thank God that he maintains us with comforts in our pilgrimage, and also that he gives us strength to take comfort from his creatures.

Here again we see a rule for how to deal with those who are sick. Blessed is he who understands the condition of the afflicted and sick, so as not to take it badly when he sees them peevish. It comes not from the mind but from the disorder of the body. As we bear with children, so we must bear with men in such disorders, if they have food and yet loathe it. You see how it is with men in that case: “their soul abhorreth all manner of meat.” It should teach us to sympathize with those who are sick, if we see them in this disordered state.

The next branch of the extremity is:

“They draw near the gates of death.”

Death is a great commander, a great tyrant, and has gates to sit in, as judges and magistrates used to “sit in the gates.” Several things are implied in this phrase.

1. First, “They draw near to the gates of death”; that is, they were “near to death,” just as he who draws near the gates of a city is near the city, because the gates lead into the city.

2. Second, gates are applied to death to signify authority. They were almost within death’s jurisdiction. Death is a great tyrant. He rules over all the men in the world, over kings and potentates and over common men; and the greatest men fear death most. He is “the king of fears,” as Job calls him (Job 18:14); yes, and the fear of kings. Yet death, which wicked men so fear in this life, is the thing they will desire most of all things in the world at the day of judgment, according to what is said in Revelation: “they shall desire death, and it shall not come to them” (Rev 9:6). They will continue in being, to eternal misery. What men are most afraid of in this life is what they will most wish would come to them in the world to come: “Oh that I might die!” What a pitiful state wicked men are in! This is why it is called the “gate of death.” It rules and overrules all mankind. Therefore it is said “to reign” (Rom 5:14). Death and sin came in together. Sin was the gate that let in death, and ever since, death has reigned, and will reign, until Christ perfectly triumphs over it, who is the King of that lord and commander, and has “the key of hell and death” (Rev 1:18). To wicked men, I say, death is a tyrant and has a gate; and when they go through the “gate of death,” they go to a worse place, a lower place, to hell. It is the trapdoor to hell.

3. By the “gate of death” is meant not only the authority but the power of death, as in the Gospel: “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18), that is, the power and strength of hell. So here it implies the strength of death, which is very great, for it subdues all. It is the executioner of God’s justice.

Use. If death has such jurisdiction, power and strength, let us labor to disarm it beforehand. It is in our power to make death stingless, toothless and harmless. Indeed, we may make it advantageous, for the “gate of death” may become the gate of happiness. Let us labor to have our part and portion in Christ, who has “the key of hell and death,” who has overcome and conquered this tyrant: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” “Thanks be unto God, who hath given us victory, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor 15:55, 57). So now we need not fear death. Though death has a gate, it is a gate to let us into heaven, just as it is a door to let the wicked into hell. So much for that.

Next, we come to their conduct in their extremity.

“They cried to God in their trouble.”

This is how a man conducts himself in extreme troubles, if he has any fear of God in him: he prays, and then his prayers are cries. They are darted out of the heart, as it were, to heaven. It is said, “Christ made strong cries” (Heb 5:7). In extremity, prayers are “cries.” From this I briefly observe these things.

Doctrine. God allows men to fall into extreme troubles, even to the gates of death, so that there is only a step between them and death.

Why?

Reason 1. To wean them perfectly from the world, and to make them more thankful when they recover. For why are men so slight in their thanksgiving? Usually the reason is that they did not realize they were in such extreme danger as they were.

Reason 2. Likewise, he allows men to fall into extreme sickness so that he may have all the glory, for it was his doing. There was no second cause to help here, for their soul “abhorred all manner of meat, and they were even at the gates of death.” Now, when all second causes fail, God is exalted. Therefore he allows men to fall into extremity. The greater the illness, the greater the glory of the physician.

The second thing is this: as God brings his children into extremity, so God’s children in extremity cry to him.

Extremity of affliction forces prayers out of us: “In their affliction they will seek me early” (Hos 5:15). When all second causes fail, then we go to God. Nature itself, therefore, is against atheism. As one observes, men naturally run to God in extremity, crying, “Lord, succor me.” So, especially in the church, God’s people cry to God in extremity. And as afflictions in general drive men to God, so in particular does this affliction of bodily sickness.

Many times God would never hear from us unless he came near us by afflictions, and deep afflictions. “Out of the deep have I cried” (Ps 130:1). God brings us into the deep, and then we cry. Our nature is so wicked that God would not hear from us, as I said, unless he sent some messenger after us, some affliction to bring us home, as Absalom dealt with Joab when he set fire to his grain. In the Gospels, Christ would never have heard from many people had it not been for some infirmity. But blessed are those sicknesses and infirmities that occasion our going to God, that make us cry to God. It was the saying of a heathen, “We are best when we are weakest.” Why? As he says very well, “Who is ambitious, voluptuous, or covetous for the world when he is sick, when he sees the vanity of these things?”

This should make us submit more meekly to God when we are under his hand, when we are his prisoners through sickness, when he casts us on our sickbeds, because God is working our good. He is drawing us nearer to himself.

“Then they cried to him.”

So we see, then, that prayer is a remedy in a remediless condition, when there is no other remedy. And this is one difference between a child of God and another man. In extremity a carnal man, one who has no grace, has no spirit of prayer to go to God; but a child of God cries to God. He was acquainted with God in the time of health, and therefore he goes boldly to God as a Father in the time of extremity. God’s children can answer God’s dealings. As he brings his children into extremity, when there is no second cause to help, so they answer him by faith. In extremity, when there is nothing to trust in, they trust him. When there is no medicine in the world that can charm away the disease, they have a spirit of faith to answer God’s dealings in the greatest misery, as Job says, “Though he kill me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15).

For God is not tied to second causes. Therefore, if he has “delight in us,” and if he has any service for us to do, he can recover us from the “gates of death,” and even from death itself. We see Christ in the Gospels raising the dead, and at the resurrection he will raise us from death; how much more can he raise us from the “gates of death” when we are only “near death.”

Therefore, considering that prayer is a remedy in all maladies, even in a remediless condition, let us labor to have a spirit of prayer and to be in such a state that we may pray.

What state is that?

1. Take heed of being in league with any sin. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, God will not hear my prayer” (Ps 66:18). Indeed, he will not hear other people’s prayers for us either. Oh, what a pitiful state it is when God will hear neither us nor others for us! “Pray not for this people,” God says to Jeremiah (Jer 14:11); and, “if Noah, Daniel, and Job stood before me, they should but deliver their own souls” (Ezek 14:14).

If a man is in a determined course of sin and will not be reclaimed, but is like the “deaf adder, that will not be charmed” (Ps 58:4), God will not hear prayers for him. Will God hear a rebel when he comes to him for mercy while he is in a course opposed to God’s will? It is as if a traitor came to sue for pardon with a dagger in his hand, which would only increase the treason. So when a man comes to God and cries to him, and yet intends to live in sin, and his conscience tells him that he does violence to God by his sins and lives in rebellious courses, God will not hear his prayers.

2. Again, if we would be in such a state that God may accept us when we come to him, let us hear God when he cries to us. He cries to us in the ministry of the Word: “Wisdom hath lift up her voice” (Prov 1:20). This is God’s way: he will hear us when we hear him. “He that turns his ear from hearing of the law, his prayer shall be abominable” (Prov 28:9).

There are those who do not attend upon God’s ordinances, who will have a kind of private devotion of their own and avoid the public ordinance. Perhaps they fear they will hear something that would awaken their conscience, and they would not “be tormented before their time” (Matt 8:29). Let them consider this terrible saying of Solomon: “He that turns his ear from hearing the law, his prayer shall be abominable.” Let us take heed. It is a fearful thing to be in such a condition that neither our own prayers nor anyone else’s will be regarded for us. And let anyone judge: if we will not hear God speaking to us, is it fitting that he should hear us speaking to him?

Before I leave the point, let me press it a little further. At this time we have cause to bless God for the deliverance of the city. Oh, but let all who have the spirit of prayer, who have any familiarity with God, make full use of all their interest in heaven at this time. Do we not realize what danger we are in, and what enemies we have provoked? Even if we are free from the sickness, are we not in danger of worse things than the sickness? Is it not worse to fall into the hands of our enemies? (2 Sam 24:14). Have we not great, provoked, cruel, idolatrous enemies?

Therefore let us all now cry to God together and press him earnestly to be good to the State. Let us ask that as he has given us a pledge of his favor in delivering us from the plague, he would not grow weary of doing us good, but would make this deliverance a token of further favors and deliverances to come. Let us ask that as he delivered us in former times, in 1588, and magnified his mercy to us, so now he would not expose us to the cruelty of idolatrous enemies, “whose mercies are cruel” (Prov 12:10). Let us stir ourselves up. Complacency and carelessness always go before one destruction or another.

Prayer will do a great deal more good now than when trouble has overtaken us. For now it is a sign that it comes from a religious seeking of God; then it comes from self-love. There is a great deal of difference between a criminal who seeks the judge’s favor before the assizes and one who seeks it only at the time of trial; for then it is merely out of regard for himself, and not out of regard for the judge. If we seek God now, he will single out and mark those who mourn for the sins of the time and pour out their spirits to him in prayer, asking that he would still dwell among us and continue the means of salvation among us. When God, I say, comes to gather his jewels (Mal 3:17), he will single them out and call them out as his own special possession.

Therefore, in all our prayers let us include the church. Things do more than speak; they cry to us to cry earnestly to God. If we are not in trouble ourselves, our prayers will be all the more acceptable. Before trouble comes, prayer is the only way to prevent it, just as it is the only way to rescue us when we are in trouble.

I come now to the remedy.

“He saved them out of their distress.”

God is a physician, skilled in every kind of sickness. It does not matter what the disease is if God is the physician. Though people are like these men, “at the gates of death,” he can fetch them back. In this God differs from all other physicians.

First of all, he is a general physician. He can heal a land, a whole kingdom, of sickness and of pestilence, as we read in 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Then he is a physician of both body and soul, of both parts of us. And then he is not tied to means.

Other physicians can cure, but they must have means. Other physicians cannot cure every kind of disease, nor in every place, but God can cure all. “He saved them out of their distress.”

Other physicians cannot always be present, but God is present to every one of his patients. He is a compassionate, tender, present physician.

Use. This should encourage us in any extremity, especially in sickness of body, to have recourse to God, and never to despair, however low we are brought. He who can raise dead bodies can raise us out of any sickness. Therefore let us use the means; and when there are no means, let us trust God, for he can work beyond means and without means.

“They cried to the Lord, and he saved them out of their distress.” It was the fruit of their prayers.

Doctrine. From the beginning of the world, no prayer was ever made to God in vain.

But why speak only of prayer? Even our breathings are known to God; when we cannot speak, our sighs are known to him, as it says in Psalm 38:9, “My groans and sighs are not hid from thee.” God has a “bottle for our tears” (Ps 56:8), and he preserves our sighs and groans. There is nothing spiritual in us that God does not regard, as in Romans 8:26: “We know not what to ask, but the Spirit of God stirreth up in us sighs and groans that cannot be expressed.” And God hears the voice of the sighs of his own Spirit.

Let us also be urged by this outcome to “cry unto the Lord.” For there was never anyone who sowed prayers in the breast and bosom of God who did not receive the fruit of it. He is a God “hearing prayer,” and he will not lose that attribute. More than that, notice that the examples in this psalm are not drawn only from men in the church, but also from men outside the church, men who do not have the true religion. They pray to God as creatures to their Creator. And though God does not have their souls, he will not be in any man’s debt for duties done. If Ahab only fasts hypocritically, Ahab shall have outward deliverance for his outward humiliation. And if these men mentioned in the text call on God even merely as creatures, and not on idols, God will regard them in outward things and deliver them. God will not be in any man’s debt for any service done to him, even if it is only outward.

And do we think that he who regards “dogs” outside the church will neglect his children in the church? He regards heathen men when they pray to him in their extremity, and he delivers them to show his overflowing bounty and goodness. Will he not regard his own children, who have the spirit of adoption, of supplication and of prayer, who put up their requests and supplications through the mediation and in the sweet name of Christ? Since he regards even the heathen, will he not regard the name and intercession of his Son, and of his Spirit, the Holy Ghost, stirring up prayers in them, and the state of his children, who are his by adoption?

More than that, God hears the very young ravens (Job 38:41). He spreads a table for every living thing and will not let them die of hunger, but provides for them, because they are his creatures. And will he not provide for his children, those whom he has taken so near to himself, to be heirs of heaven and happiness? Let us, I say, be encouraged to cry to the Lord on every occasion. If God is so good as to deliver sinful men, who have nothing in them but the principles of nature, when they flee to God in prayer as the author and preserver of nature, how much more will he hear his own children! “He will give his Spirit to them that ask him” (Luke 11:13).

Objection. But here someone may object: “I have cried for a long time! I am hoarse with crying! I have waited a long time! I have been sick a long time, or troubled by some particular trouble! And God seems, as it were, to stop his ears, to harden his heart against me, to shut up his tender compassion and pity. So I might as well give up as go on crying and not be heard.”

Answer. I answer, there is hardly a single duty pressed more in Scripture than waiting and watching to prayer. Wait still. Has God not waited on your leisure long enough? And will you not wait on him?

When a patient feels his body disordered by medicine, oh, how he cries out, partly because of the medicine and partly because of the sickness, both troubling him together and making civil war in his body! Yet the physician wisely lets it work. The patient shall have no cordial, nor anything else to hinder it. The physician lets it go on until the medicine has worked well and carried away the malignant matter, so that the patient may be the better for it; and in that he is a loving and tender physician.

So it is with God. When we are in trouble, the trouble is like medicine. We cry, but God turns the hourglass, as physicians do. No, this time must run out first; it shall work this long. You shall be thoroughly humbled until your pride is taken away, until you are weaned from your former wicked pleasures, until you are prepared to receive further blessings. Therefore his children cry and cry, and God delays to hear the voice of his children. In the meantime he loves to hear the cry of his children, and their prayer is like “sweet incense”; yet still he delays. But all is for the patient’s good. Do not grow weary of waiting. It is a great mercy that he enables you to go on crying, that you have the Spirit of prayer, that you can pour out your soul to God. It is a great mercy; count it as such.

Perhaps you have not cast out your Jonah, your Achan. Perhaps there is some particular sin unrepented of, and you cry and cry, but your sin cries louder. Your pride or your oppression cries; your wicked course cries. You cry to God, and there is something else in you that cries for vengeance as loudly as you cry for mercy. Therefore search out your Achan; cast out your beloved sin. See if you regard iniquity in your heart, if you cherish any pleasing, or profitable, or gainful sin. And never think that God will hear you until that is out, for it will outcry your prayers.

The next thing is the manner of God’s cure.

“He sent his word and healed them.”

What word?

His secret command, his will.

Let such a thing be, as in the creation, “Let there be light.” Besides his written Word, there is his word creating, and his word preserving the things created; and so here, his word restoring those who were sick: “He sent his word and healed them.” And so at the resurrection, his word, his voice, will raise our bodies again.

It is a strange manner of cure for God to cure by his word, by his command. It shows that God has universal command of all things in the world, in heaven and earth, over devils and over sicknesses, as it is said in the Gospel, He rebuked the sicknesses (Luke 4:39). He can rebuke fevers, the plague and the pestilence, and they will be gone at his word. As the centurion said, “I am a man that have servants under me: and I say to one, Come, and he cometh; and to another, Go, and he goeth” (Matt 8:8-9); so you, who are God, have all things under you, and if you say to a disease, “Come,” it comes, and if you say, “Go,” it goes. God sent his word of command and healed them.

It takes only a word of God to heal, and only a word of God to strike. He is the “Lord of hosts.” “If he do but hiss,” as the prophet says, “for the fly of Egypt” (Isa 7:18), if he but calls for an enemy, they come at his word. As we see in Pharaoh’s plagues, the flies and frogs, all things obey his word.

There is a secret obedience in all things to God when it is his will that they should do this or that. Why does the sea keep its bounds, when the nature and position of the sea is to be above the earth? It is the command of God, who has said, Let it be there, and “hither shall thy proud waves go, and no further” (Job 38:11). I could give many examples of how God does all by his word. The devils are at his word; so are the whales; the sea obeys when Christ rebukes it.

Use. This should teach us not to displease this God, who can strike us in the midst of our sins even with a word. Let us fear this God. Suppose we had no enemy in the world: God can arm a man’s own humors against him. He can raise the spirit and soul against itself and make it fight against itself through desperate thoughts. He did not need foreign forces against Ahithophel and Saul; he could arm their own souls against themselves. And when he means to bring down the greatest giant in the world, he does not need foreign forces. It takes only the working of a disease, only giving way to a humor, only inflaming the spirits, and the soul “shall abhor all manner of meat.”

Again, he gives a command, a rebuke, and they are gone at once. Therefore let us not offend this great God, who is commander of heaven and earth. Let us labor to please him, and it does not matter whom else we displease. For he has all things at his command, even the “hearts of kings as the rivers of water” (Prov 21:1). When Esau sought Jacob to harm him, God laid a secret command upon him to love him. Therefore we should fear God, and all other things shall fear us. We need fear nothing, so long as we take care to fear God, except as far as we fear things in God and for God’s sake. But we must not fear them so much that we do evil for their sake and offend the great God, who with a word can command sickness to come or bid it be gone.

Again, since God, when all second causes fail, can heal by his word, let us never be discouraged from praying. Though we see turmoil and tumult in the church, though we see all Europe in flames and the church driven into a narrow corner, let us not give up prayer. For Christ, who with a word commanded the waves to be still and the devils to be gone, and they immediately obeyed him, can still the waves of the church. He can put a hook into the nostrils of his enemies and draw them whichever way he pleases. He can still everything with “his word.” Therefore, however things seem to run contrary and opposite to our desires, let us not give up. Even if a man sees no ground of hope in carnal, fleshly reason, let him despair of nothing. Despair shuts the gate and door of mercy and hope, as it were.

You see here that when all means failed, when they were at the very gates and entrance of death, God fetched them back again. How? With medicine? No. He is not tied to medicine. There is a difference between God, on the one hand, and nature and art on the other. Nature and art can do nothing without means; but the God of nature and art can do it with his word. How did he make this heaven and earth, this glorious structure? With his word: “Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen 1:3). And how will he restore all things again? With his mighty, commanding word. How does he preserve things? By his word. How are things multiplied? By his word, “Increase and multiply,” a word of blessing. He does all things with his word.

So he can confound his enemies with a word. Indeed, when Christ was in his greatest abasement, and they came with staves and weapons to take him, he said, “Whom seek ye?” That word struck down all the officers of the Scribes and Pharisees; they fell flat on the ground (John 18:4-6). If he could strike down his enemies with his word in his humiliation, before his great abasement on the cross, what will he do at the day of judgment, when all flesh shall appear before him? And what can he do now at the right hand of God in heaven?

Let us never despair, whatever state we are in, whether in our own persons or with respect to the church or the commonwealth. Let us still pray, still petition God and wrestle with him. For we see here that when they were at the “gates of death,” he fetched them back again with “his word.” He can fetch things back when they are at the point of destruction, as it were. When man’s wit is at a loss, so that he does not know what course to take, God with a word can turn all things around again.

“Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them sacrifice the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.”

You see that God, the great physician, is skilled in every disease. He is never at a loss over anything, for he can create helps and remedies out of nothing. If there are none in nature, he can create peace for the soul. In the midst of trouble of conscience, God can make things out of nothing, and even out of their contraries. You see here what this great physician has done. He fetched them “from the gates of death, when their soul abhorred all manner of meat.” And what does he require for all this great cure? Surely the text tells us he looks for nothing but praise: “Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness.”

In these words you have these circumstances to consider, together with the substance of the duty.

First, the persons who must praise God: “Oh that men would praise the Lord.”

Then, the duty they are to perform: “to praise God,” to “sacrifice to God,” to “declare his works.” This is one main duty expressed in three terms.

The third is what they should praise him for: “for his goodness.” This is the spring of all, for all his particular actions come from his nature. His nature is goodness itself, and indeed all his other attributes are founded on goodness. Why is he gracious, and merciful, and long-suffering? Because he is good. This is the primary attribute. And then there is another thing for which we must praise him: “for his wondrous works for the children of men.”

Fourth, the manner in which this should be done: “with rejoicing and singing,” as the word signifies, “declare his works with rejoicing.” For as all holy actions must be done joyfully and cheerfully, so especially praise. “God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7); much more does he love a cheerful thanksgiver, for cheerfulness is the very nature of thanksgiving. Otherwise it is a dead sacrifice of thanksgiving; it is a dead sacrifice. These are the many things to consider in these words.

First of all, the persons.

“Oh that men would praise the Lord.”

The blessed psalmist, whoever he was, directed by the Spirit of God, would have all men praise God: not only those who share and have an interest in the favor, but also those who behold the goodness of God to others. For here he who was not personally concerned in these favors nevertheless praises God for the blessings shown to others, and he wishes that God might have praise from them.

For we are all of one society, of one family; we are all brothers. Therefore we must praise God for his blessings and benefits to others. And not only must we praise him for ourselves; we must wish that all would do so. And especially we must praise God for ourselves when we have a share in the benefit. For shall others praise God for us, and shall we not do it for ourselves? Shall the churches of God abroad praise God for his great deliverance of this city (as there is no church in the world that hears of it but is thankful for it), and shall we not do it for ourselves? Shall the angels in heaven praise God, and sing for the redemption of the church by the blood of Christ, “Glory to God on high, peace on earth, good will to men” (Luke 2:13-14), and shall not we, who have an interest in the work of redemption? For Christ is not a mediator of redemption to the angels; he stands in relation to them in another respect. Yet out of love to God and to the church, and out of a desire to glorify God, they praise God for this. And shall we not do it much more for ourselves?

We must praise God ourselves, and desire that all would do so, as he says here, “Oh that men would praise the Lord.” And in some other psalms he stirs up all the creatures, hail, and snow, and wind, and everything, to praise God.

How can these praise God?

They do it by our mouths, by giving us occasion to praise him. And they praise him in themselves. For as the creature groans (Rom 8:22) with groans that no one knows but God and itself (they groan for the corruption and abuse they are subject to, and God knows those groans), so the creature likewise has a kind of voice in praising God. The creatures declare in their nature the goodness of God, and give us occasion to praise God. Therefore the psalmist, desiring that God might be praised for his goodness and mercy, stirs up every creature (Ps 103:20-22), even the very angels, implying that it is a work fit for angels.

The children of God have such love and zeal for the glory of God that they are not content only to praise God themselves; they stir up everyone. They do not need to wish the angels to do it; they wish it only to show their desire. Oh, the blessed disposition of those who love God in Christ!

What shall we think, then, of those wretched people who are grieved that the “word of God should run and have free passage, and be glorious” (2 Thess 3:1), and that there should be free use of the sacraments and the blessed means of salvation? They envy the glory of God and the salvation of people’s souls. What shall we say to those who desire to hear God dishonored, who perhaps swear and blaspheme themselves, or, if they do not, are yet not touched in their hearts by the dishonor done to God by others? This is far from the disposition of a Christian. A Christian desires that all creatures may trumpet out the praise of God, from the highest angel to the lowest creature, from the sun and stars to the meanest shrub. Only devilish-spirited, carnal people take delight in blaspheming God, who can strike them with his word and send them to their own place, to hell, without repentance; only they can hear him dishonored without any touch of spirit. A child of God desires God to be glorified from the very root of his heart, and is grieved when God is dishonored in any way. So much, briefly, for the first point.

Now what is the duty this holy man wishes for?

“That men would praise God. And sacrifice the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and declare his works.” Out of the largeness of his heart he expresses the same thing in many words. Therefore I need not be scrupulous about treating each of them separately, because one need not attend so closely to the expressions of a large heart as to be exact about every one.

First, he begins with praise: “Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord.”

It is a duty, as I said before, fit for angels. Fit! More than that: it is performed by them, for it is all the work they do. It was the only religious work that Adam did in paradise, and it is the work we shall do in heaven with God. Therefore we are never more in heaven than when we take every occasion of blessing and praising God. We are never in a happier condition.

It is a duty, therefore, that we should aim at, and all the more because it is the fruit and end of all other duties whatever. What is the end of all the good we do but to show our thankfulness to God? The end of our fruitfulness in our place? That others may take occasion to glorify God. What is the end of our hearing? To gain knowledge and grace, so that we may be better able to praise God with our mouths and in our lives. What is the end of receiving the sacrament? Indeed, what is that duty itself? A thanksgiving. What is the end of prayer? To beg grace and strength so that we may conduct ourselves in our places as is fitting, and so that we may not lack those things without which we cannot glorify God as well. So the end of all is to glorify God.

It is the end that God intended in everything. He framed all things for his own praise in the creation. Why has God given man reason here upon the stage of the world? To behold the creatures (Rom 1:19-20), so that, seeing in the creature the wisdom of God in ordering things, the goodness of God in the use of things, and the power of God in the greatness of things, the huge, vast heaven and earth, he might take occasion to glorify and magnify this God, to think highly of him, to exalt him in our thoughts. For if his creatures, heaven and earth, are so beautiful and excellent, what excellence there is in God himself!

And as it is the end of creation, so in redemption everything is for his glory and praise. How sweetly St. Paul sets forth its end in Ephesians 1:6: To the glory of his rich mercy and grace. To be merciful to sinners; to give his own Son; for God to become man, not for man in the state Adam was in during his innocence, but for sinners; for God to triumph over sin by his infinite mercy: here is the glory of his grace shining in the gospel. There, everything is for the glory and praise of God.

And for particular deliverances, we read in Psalm 50:15, “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” He delivers us in the passages of our life so that we may glorify him, by taking notice in imminent dangers of some of his attributes, of his power and goodness and so on, when there is no means of deliverance. In Revelation 4:10 the elders are brought in praising God for the work of creation, and then in the fifth chapter (Rev 5:9) for redemption: “Thou art worthy, for thou hast redeemed us.” So indeed the work of creation, the work of redemption, and the particular passages of God’s providence, protection and preservation are matter for praise in heaven and on earth among God’s people.

Now to name a few helps and means for performing this duty better.

If we would stir ourselves up to praise God, let us consider our own unworthiness. As in prayer there must be a humble heart (for a man will not go seeking abroad if he has something at home; poverty of spirit and humility of heart are what make a man pray), so it is the humble soul, the soul that sees no desert in itself, that praises God. This is one way to help us praise God: to see nothing in ourselves why God should regard us so, as “to give us our lives for a prey” (Jer 45:5), to set his love on us, and to follow us with good. On the contrary, we have deserved that God should leave us and expose us to misery rather than watch over us by his providence. What is in us? “It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves” (Ps 100:3). And he made us again when we were sinners, when we were worse than nothing. Therefore, to humble ourselves, we must consider our own unworthiness.

He who knows himself unworthy of any favor will be thankful even for the least, as we see in Jacob: “I am less than the least of all thy favors” (Gen 32:10). Therefore he was thankful for the least. So we see here in the text. These men are stirred up to praise God. They saw no other help and no worthiness in themselves. They were at the gates of death, in a desperate condition: Oh that such men would praise God. Indeed, such people are the fittest to praise God, who can ascribe their help to nothing but God, to no second causes.

Therefore, in the next place, as a branch of the former, if we would praise God, do not dwell on the second causes. If God uses second causes in any favor he bestows on us, either in keeping us from some evil or in bestowing some good, consider it a means that God could do without, one he might use if he wished, or not use. See God in the second causes; rise from them to him. Are you healed by medicine? Use medicine as a means, but see God in it. But if God has cured you without medicine, without ordinary means, then see him more directly doing you good without the help of second causes.

That is one way to help us praise God: to see him in every favor and deliverance. For what could second causes do if he did not give a blessing? Especially praise him when he has done it directly, as he can. Did he not make light before there was a sun? He is not tied to giving light by the sun. And he made waters before he made the clouds; he is not tied to the clouds. Therefore especially praise God when we have deliverance we know not how, without means, directly from the goodness and strength of God.

Again, if we would praise God for any favor, consider the necessity and use of the favor we pray for, as these men here did. They were at death’s door and “loathed all manner of meat.” Alas, they would have died if God had not helped them. If you would bless God, consider what a miserable state you would be in if you did not have that favor to praise God for. If you are to bless God for your senses, suppose you lacked your sight: what a miserable condition you would be in! So with any of the senses a man lacks, by which he should glorify God and take comfort in the creatures. Suppose a man lacked his taste, as these men here: “their soul abhorred all manner of meat.” Alas, what a miserable condition it is to lack a relish and taste of the comfort that God has put into the creatures! Suppose we lacked the smallest benefit we enjoy: how uncomfortable our lives would be!

This spark of reason that God has given us, the understanding to conceive things, is the engine by which we do everything we do as men, and by which we are capable of the grace of God. What a miserable thing it would be if God took away our wits or suspended their use!

But especially in matters of grace: if God had not sent Christ to redeem the world, what a cursed condition we would have lain in, next to the devils!

Again, if we would praise God, let us keep a diary every day of his favors and blessings: what good he does us privately, what positive blessings he bestows on us, what dangers he frees us from, and how he continues and renews his mercy every day; and publicly, what benefit we have from the state we live in. Oh, what a happy state it is that we live in peace, that we enjoy such laws, “that every man may sit under his own vine, and under his own fig-tree” (Mic 4:4), and enjoy the comforts of life, when all the world around us is, and has been, in flames! We should keep a register of God’s blessings. Oh that we could learn to lead such exact lives! It would breed a world of comfort, and we would have a smaller account to give when we die.

Every day labor to be humbled for our sins, especially such as break the peace of our consciences, and never give our bodies rest until our hearts have rest in the favor of God. And together with matter for humiliation, observe daily how God bestows new favors or else continues the old: how, notwithstanding our provoking him and forgetting him, he strives with us by his goodness. This is a blessed duty that we should labor to perform.

And then, when we have done this, let us rouse up all that we are and all that we have within us to praise God: “My soul, praise the Lord, and all that is within me praise his holy name” (Ps 103:1). What do we have within us to praise God with? Let us praise God with our understanding, to conceive and have a right judgment of God’s favors, of their worth and of our own unworthiness; and then with a sanctified memory: “Forget not all his benefits” (Ps 103:2). Forgetfulness is the grave of God’s blessings; it buries everything. And then there is in us the affection of joy and of love to God, to taste him abundantly, and then all that is within us will be large in praising God. And our tongue likewise, though it is not within us, is called our “glory” (Ps 16:9; Ps 57:8). Let us make it our glory in this: to trumpet out God’s praise on every occasion. All that is within us, and all that we are, or have, or can do, let it all be to the glory and praise of God.

To draw to a conclusion, with some general application of all that has been spoken, and then a particular application to the present occasion.

You know how God has dealt of late with this city in the great visitation of 1625, and indeed with ourselves. For we are all of one body politic, and however God visited them, yet it was our sins also that provoked him. We brought sticks to the common fire. A physician bleeds the arm, but the whole body is out of order. God bled the city, but the whole kingdom was in a distemper. So it was for our sins as well as theirs. We all brought, I say, something to the common flame, and God afflicted us even in them.

God has now stopped the sickness almost as miraculously as he sent it. It was a wonder that so many should be swept away in so short a time. It is almost as great a wonder that God should stop it so soon. And to what may we attribute it? Surely to what is in the text: “They cried unto the Lord.” God put it into the hearts of the governors of the State to appoint humiliation and crying to God. And therefore, since God has been so merciful upon our humiliation, it is religiously and worthily done by the State that there should be a time to bless God.

Again, God did it with a word, with a command. Both in the inflicting and in the deliverance it was, as it were, without means. For what could the physician do to stop the plague? Alas, all the skill in the world is at a loss in these kinds of sickness! It comes with God’s command. It is God’s arrow more especially than other sicknesses are. God sent it by his command, first to humble us for our sin; and now he has stopped it with a word of command, so that from above five thousand a week it has come down to three persons. “God hath sent his word and healed us.”

It was a pitiful state we were in before. For indeed it was not only a sickness upon the city but a civil sickness; the whole state was out of order. There is sickness in the body when there is obstruction, when there is no passage for the spirits and the blood from the liver, from the heart and from the head; these obstructions cause weakness, faintings and consumption. So was there not an obstruction in the State of late? Were not the veins of the kingdom stopped? Was not civil commerce halted? The affliction of this great city was like the affliction of the head, or of the heart, or of the liver. If the main vital part is sick, the whole is sick. So the whole kingdom was sick, not only by way of sympathy, but civilly sick, in that all trading and dealings were stopped. It was a heavy visitation.

And we have much cause to bless God that now the ways of this Zion of ours mourn not; that there is free commerce and dealing as before; that we can meet thus peaceably and quietly at God’s ordinances and about our ordinary callings. Those who have a true sense of the thing cannot help breaking out in thanksgiving to God in several respects.

1. Do we not have matter to praise God, first of all, that he would correct us at all? He might have allowed us to go on and be damned with the wicked world, as it is in 1 Corinthians 11:32: “We are therefore chastened of the Lord, that we should not be damned with the world.” It is his mercy that he would take us into his hands as children, that he would visit us at all.

2. Another ground of thanksgiving is this: that since he would correct us, he would use this kind of correction, taking us into his own hands. Might he not have allowed a furious, bloody, dark-spirited, devilish-spirited enemy to invade us? Might he not have let us fall into the hard hands of men driven by devilish malice? David thought this a favor, that God would single him out to punish him with the plague of pestilence, so that he might not fall before his enemies (2 Sam 24:14). The mercies of God are wonderfully great when we fall into his hands. He is a merciful God. He has a tender heart full of pity and compassion. But the very mercies of wicked idolaters “are cruel.” There was a mercy, therefore, in this: that God would take us into his own hands.

3. We see, when he had taken us into his own hands, how he has stopped the raging of the pestilence and has restrained the destroying angel, even in a wonderful manner, so that the plague, when it was raging so, suddenly came to decrease. God was wonderful in this work. Is this not matter for praise?

4. Then again, it is a mercy to all of us here that he should “give us our lives for a prey,” as God says in Jeremiah to Baruch, “Wheresoever thou goest, thou shalt have thy life for a prey” (Jer 45:5). Might not God’s arrow have followed us wherever we went? Where can a man go from this arrow where God, being everywhere, might not strike him with the pestilence? Now, in that he has watched over us and kept us from this noxious, contagious sickness, and has brought us all together here quietly and freely, so that there may be dealings between man and man in trading and other callings, this is the fourth ground for praising God.

5. And that it did not rage in other parts. In former times God scattered the pestilence more widely over the kingdom. It is a great thing to bless God for. I beg you, let us say in the same spirit as this holy man here, “Oh that men, therefore, would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for the wonders that he doth for the children of men!” For his goodness, that he would rather correct us here than damn us; for his goodness, that he would not give us up to our enemies; for his goodness, that he stopped the infection so suddenly, and that he stopped it from spreading further; for his goodness to us in particular, that he has kept us all safe.

What shall we do now but consecrate and dedicate these lives of ours? For he gives us our lives more than once, not only at the beginning. There is not one here who cannot say from experience, “God gave me my life at such a time, and at such a time.” Let us give these lives back to God, labor to reform our former ways, and enter into a new covenant with God. This is one part of thanksgiving: to renew our covenant with God, to please him better. And indeed, in every thanksgiving this should be one ingredient: “Now, Lord, I intend and resolve to please you better. Whatever my faults have been in the past, I resolve by your grace and help to break them off.” Without this, all the rest is only a dead performance.

Now, briefly, by way of analogy and proportion, let me raise some meditations from what has been said concerning the body and apply them to the soul, for God is the physician of both soul and body.

If God with his word can heal our bodies, as the psalmist says here, much more can he heal our souls with his word. There are many whose bodies are well, thanks be to God; but how is it with their souls? Here you have some symptoms by which to know their spiritual state; and oh that people were aware of it! Do you not have many whose “soul loatheth all manner of meat,” and who “draw near the gates of death”? Their souls are in a desperate state; they are deeply sick. How shall we know it? Their soul “abhorreth all manner of wholesome meat.” How many are there who relish poets and history, any trifle that only feeds their vain fancy, and yet cannot relish the blessed truth and ordinances of God?

Where is spiritual life when this spiritual sense is gone, when men cannot relish holy things? If they do relish the ordinance of God, it is not the spiritual part of it, insofar as the Spirit touches the conscience, but something that perhaps suits their taste: the expressions, or phrases, or the like. But it is a symptom and sign of a fearful, declining state when men do not relish the spiritual ordinances of God, which should be, as it were, “their appointed food”; when they do not delight to acquaint themselves with God in hearing the word, in reading and the like.

Let such people, therefore, as do not delight in spiritual things know that their souls lie gasping; they are at the “gates” of spiritual death. All is not well. There is some fearful obstruction upon the soul that takes away the appetite. The soul runs too much into the world. They glut themselves with the world. When men cannot relish heavenly things, they are eaten up with the delight and joy of other things, pleasures and profits.

Let them search out the cause, and labor for purging, sharp things that may bring back an appetite.

Let them judge themselves and see what the matter is, that they do not delight more in heavenly things. Let them purge themselves by confession to God and consideration of their sins, and labor to recover their appetite. For it is almost a desperate state: they are at the gates of death.

Especially now, when we come to the communion. What are we doing here if we cannot relish the food of our souls? Let us examine whether we desire to taste the love of God and to be acquainted with God here. If not, what shall we do in these spiritual distempers?

Ask of God, cry to God, that he would forgive our sins and heal our souls by his Holy Spirit; that he would make us more spiritual, to relish heavenly things better than we have done before; that as heavenly things are better in their kind than other things are, so they may be better to our taste.

A man may know the verdict on his state when he does not respond to the difference between things: what the difference is between the food of life and ordinary food; what the difference is between the comforts of the Holy Spirit and other comforts; between the riches and dross of the world and the riches of the Spirit, the graces of God that will cause a man to live and die with comfort, the true riches that make the soul rich to eternity. There is no comparison. Beg of God this spiritual relish, to discern of things that differ (Heb 5:14), so that we may recover our appetite. God by his word and Spirit can do it: not only by the written word, but by the inward spiritual word written in our hearts. Desire God to join his Spirit with his word and sacraments, and that will recover our taste and make us spiritual, so that we shall relish him who is both the feast-maker and the feast itself. He is both the food and the provider of the banquet.

For why is it that all other things are sweet to us, such as deliverance from trouble and sickness? Because it is a pledge of our spiritual deliverance in Christ, the deliverance from hell and damnation. What comfort can a man have in the enjoyment of his health who does not know his state in grace, when he must think he is only like a “sheep kept for the slaughter”? He does not know whether he is in the favor of God or not.

Therefore let us come and renew our faith in the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Christ, of whom we are made partakers in the sacrament. For if we believe our deliverance from hell and damnation by the body of Christ broken and his blood shed, then everything will be sweet. When we know that God loves us to life everlasting, then everything on the way to life everlasting, even daily bread, will be sweet, because the same love that gives heaven gives daily food, and the same love that redeems us from hell redeems us from sickness. Therefore let us labor to strengthen our faith in the main thing, so that we may be thankful for the lesser.

And as we enter into a new covenant with God, so let us labor to keep it. In Leviticus 26:14 and the verses following, everything avenges the breaking of God’s covenant. When we make a covenant to serve him better in time to come and yet break it, God is forced to send his messenger. He sends sickness to avenge his covenant. Considering that he has lately avenged it in this way, let it make us all the more careful in our conduct. So much for this time and this text.

None of us liveth to himself, and none of us dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s (Rom 14:7-8).

The aim of the first part of this chapter is to show the Romans, and in them all of us, how we should behave toward others in matters that are indifferent. Just as there is a difference among things in the world (some good, some bad, and some of a middle nature), so there are different dispositions in people. Concerning these things of a middle nature, some are strong, and they are inclined to despise the weaker, because they know their liberty. Others are weaker, and they are inclined to criticize and complain of those who are strong, for all weakness is full of impatience. That is how it was with the Romans. The strong despised the weaker as ignorant; the weaker criticized the strong, and condemned them in their hearts, as too bold.

Here the apostle shows an excellent, peaceable spirit that hates contention as an evil thing in a church. In a family, when the children come to blows, the father takes up the quarrel by beating them both. So in a church, when people fall to contending and breaking the bonds of love, God takes them in hand. Therefore the apostle draws them back from this danger of despising one another, and he presses the point with a reason in Romans 14:4, drawn from two sources.

First, from their relations: “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant?”

Second, from their aims. Both sides act out of religious motives: “He that eateth, eateth to the Lord; he that eateth not, eateth not to the Lord; he that regardeth not a day, regardeth it not to the Lord; he that doth it, doth it to the Lord” (Rom 14:6). And therefore, if both have a religious motive, criticism may be held back.

A good aim has such force that some actions of an indifferent nature may be either done or left undone, and God may bear with both, though he does not approve of either side’s carelessness in searching out the truth. Until the time of growth, God bears with them, provided their aims are gracious and their fault is simple ignorance, not malicious obstinacy. When St. Paul saw the hypocritical aims of the Galatians in things of an indifferent nature, he would not yield an inch to them. But the defect of the Romans was in their knowledge, not in their wills; they did it out of regard for the Lord. And therefore, just as in Acts 13:18 God is said, by an excellent word, to bear with Israel’s manners in the wilderness, putting up with many things, such as the putting away of wives and the like (not that he liked that course, but he would set up a gentle kind of government and not take advantage to cast them off), so he dealt with the Romans. Now, shall God be merciful and indulgent, and man severe?

1. In the text you have a general reason why those who did it did it “to the Lord,” and those who did not do it did not do it “to the Lord”: “For none liveth to himself, or dieth to himself; but whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”

2. In this reason there is, first, a general negative: “None of us liveth to himself, none of us dieth to himself.” This is a figurative and rhetorical expression, beginning and ending alike. Second, there is a general affirmative. Having taken them off from themselves, he assigns them to a true Lord: “Whether we live, we live to the Lord; whether we die, we die to the Lord.” And this is set down with a disjunction: we neither live to ourselves nor die to ourselves.

3. And third, there is a general ground that wraps up everything: “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” And therefore in all reason we should live to him and die to him.

4. Fourth, there is the ground of all, in what follows: “For to this end Christ died and rose again, that he might be Lord of life and death” (Rom 14:9). So here is reason upon reason, and ground upon ground.

Conclusion. The sum of it all is this: we cannot be certain of either life or death. For we live only for a while, and when we have acted our part upon the stage, we die and go to another world. We can make no reckoning of life and death. As soon as we begin to live, we begin to die. For some part of our life is taken away every day; as with a sum of money, the more you take away, the less remains. But this is certain: living and dying, “we are the Lord’s.” We ought therefore to hold both together in our thinking. I am alive now, yet that is not my comfort; but I am sure of this: “whether I live or die, I am the Lord’s.”

He rises from a general truth to a particular one, and this may teach us a point of wisdom.

First, to have good general truths is an excellent point of wisdom, for they flow into all particular cases. A grasp of principles is the ground of prudence for direction in particular cases. There is no art without some general maxims. In law, in medicine and in mathematics there are rules or principles (call them what you will) that bear upon all particular cases. In the same way, religion has general rules, which should be stored in our memory at all times, so that on every occasion we may see how particulars spring from the general truths and agree with them. Therefore we should labor to treasure up good principles in our memory, for people act in everything according to their principles. If they have good principles, or general truths, they act accordingly. And the cause of any error in a Christian’s life is false principles.

Men of a bad conscience, in whom the part of the soul that preserves principles is corrupt, think they do God good service in killing men (John 16:2), from an abominable principle. So it is in popery, which is grounded upon false principles, making men’s traditions a rule of faith.

Therefore it is good to have true general grounds. Notice how often the Scripture works this way. What an excellent general rule is that of Christ: “Seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other things shall be cast upon you” (Matt 6:33). Carry that along with you, and what light it gives to all our actions! What need is there to seek to be great in the world by crooked means, if we take Christ’s method?

Again, our Savior Christ, in his ordinary speech, delivered this as a general rule: “It is better to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). This contains a direction to people to be public-spirited and generous. St. Paul’s ordinary course was the same: “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Cor 5:11). What an influence this has on our conduct: “That I must do, as I must give account at the day of judgment.” And so, what use he made of the glorious state to come, of that house “and building of God not made with hands” (2 Cor 5:1), not seen, but apprehended only by faith. It enabled him to do and suffer all things that it became a Christian to do and suffer.

If a man has this principle and keeps it in mind, “that all things work together for the best to them that love God” (Rom 8:28), what can discourage him? He knows that in the end all shall be for the best, and that God will not fail him nor forsake him in his way, “but giveth his angels charge over him” (Ps 91:11). So it is with Christ’s direction, “One thing is necessary” (Luke 10:42). How it may set us right when we trouble ourselves about many things that do not matter! If these general truths were always present to us when we are tempted to sin or to discouragement (It shall go well with the righteous, and it shall not go well with the wicked; if we take good courses it shall be well, if ill courses sin will be bitter), it would be a marvelous help and advantage in every particular of our lives.

The second general observation is this: that as we must get good principles laid up in store for every occasion, so we must especially have gracious aims. People are as their aims are. Noble spirits have noble aims. Christians are of a higher rank than ordinary people, and therefore they have higher aims. Religion takes command of all other particulars and prescribes a general end to them. It takes a man off from a false end and fixes him upon a true end. It takes him off from himself, the great idol that man naturally sets up above God, above Christ, and above heaven and happiness. It tells him that the true end of all is to live to Christ, and that on good grounds, “for we are his,” and his by good title: “he died for us, that he might be Lord both of quick and dead” (Rom 14:9).

In matters of state, those who govern prescribe ends for trades and bring them into service of the state; if they find anything harmful, they look at it as it stands in relation to the common good. In the same way, religion considers all particulars as they relate to Christ and to the main end. It takes us off from false ends, prescribes the last and best end, and directs all particulars to that end. But we shall see this better as we unfold the words.

The first thing he begins with in general is to take us off from false ends: “None of us liveth to himself.”

(1) First, to live to ourselves is not to be taken altogether in a civil sense. A man lives to himself when he lives privately or in retirement, as the saying goes: “He has lived well who has kept well hidden.” A man may do so in some things, especially in times of persecution, but ordinarily this is not good. Man is a creature made for fellowship, and God has fitted him for fellowship by speech and other gifts, so that a communion of saints may be preserved. But because a retired life is sometimes good, it is not mainly aimed at here.

(2) Second, we live to ourselves when we mind ourselves altogether, and not one another; when we have more regard for ourselves than for God or for our Christian brother. And this is contrary even to nature. We see in nature that a particular nature will in some cases yield to the general nature and go against itself. Fire is a light body, and by its natural motion it rises upward. Yet this body will go downward to keep the whole of nature from a vacuum, from emptiness, so that the fullness and solidity in nature may not be disturbed. And we see heavy bodies go upward for the same end. As a man will risk his hand to save his head and to save his body, so it should be in society and government: individual people should risk themselves for the prince or the state, for the head or for the body.

(3) But this is to be taken in a larger and religious sense. To live to oneself is to make oneself one’s last end, the point to which everything is brought back: to refer all things to oneself, and to make religion and everything else serve oneself. This is when a man will make use of God for base ends, because serving God will advance him, as the Shechemites were circumcised for the sake of Dinah (Gen 34).

And to die to ourselves is much the same.

(1) A man dies to himself when he regards himself in death, and is hardly regarded by anyone else. People who stand entirely on their own, who have no relatives and few acquaintances, or who have been of little use in their lives, die to themselves in a civil sense. That is, no one mourns for them, saying, “Ah, my brother” (1 Kgs 13:30). They were of little use in their lives, and so they are little missed in their deaths. And usually those who live to themselves in this way die to themselves, little regarded and little lamented. Only this: often they do the most good when they die, as we say of pigs, “They are never good till they are dead.”

(2) But the text means this in a higher, theological sense. No Christian “dieth to himself”; that is, no Christian dies unregarded by God and by good people. As he does not live to himself but to Christ, so he does not die to himself: “Precious to the Lord is the death of all his saints” (Ps 116:15). He is not without lord and master, but “whether he liveth or dieth, he is the Lord’s.” So much for the negative part, which, as we see, may be taken both actively and passively.

But this clause will be better understood by adding the other: “Whether we live, we live to the Lord; or whether we die, we die to the Lord.”

Question. What is it to live to the Lord?

Answer. First, it is to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways to be our Lord, to whom we owe ourselves.

And second, it is on that ground to resign ourselves to the Lord in our whole conduct, so as to obey him and to give ourselves up to be disposed of by him and directed by him as he pleases.

And then, third, it is to refer all things to his glory as our last end, and to endeavor that God and Christ may be known and magnified in the world. This is when we labor to practice what we pray for in that first petition, “Hallowed be thy name” (Matt 6:9): that his religion and truth, and whatever else is God’s, may be advanced, set on high, published and enlarged; that he may be known and worshiped; that he may be to us what he is in himself, the great God, “Lord of quick and dead.” And so we give him a regard that matches our knowledge of him.

Fourth and last, the one who lives to the Lord comforts himself in this, that the Lord takes notice of him in everything. For this phrase carries a direction to a duty, and it also serves to confirm and comfort us in doing our duty. We do not serve a dead master, but one who takes notice of us “living and dying.”

(1) So “to die to the Lord” is to acknowledge Christ “to be the Lord of life” and the “Lord of death,” of death as well as of life. “He hath the keys of hell and of death” (Rev 1:18), and the disposal of both. Therefore we must resign ourselves to him in death.

(2) And then it is to make it our study to honor him by death of any kind, yes, even by martyrdom, if he calls us to seal the truth of religion with our blood.

(3) And then it is to acknowledge him to be our owner, and one who will receive us when we die, just as he took notice of us while we lived. And so the words are a privilege as well as a duty, as is sealed up in the last words: “whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” Thus I have unfolded the text.

He first lays down the general negative: “No man liveth to himself, no man dieth to himself.” You must apply this only to Christians who are true professors and members of Christ. Other people, who are not in Christ and do not have the Spirit of Christ, “live to themselves, and die to themselves,” and aim at themselves in all things; and therefore they are not the Lord’s. So it is a fearful condition to live and die to ourselves.

Yet you have some kinds of people who, not only in their private persons but in their callings, are all for themselves. But why should I call it a calling? For there is no calling that is not for the public good. Take the usurer: whose good does he serve? Let everyone sink or swim, what does he care? So long as the times hold and the months and years run on, he will have his returns. And such are those who live in a course of oppression, who live by the ruin and plunder of others.

But there is a subtler way of living to oneself, as all people do who do not have the Spirit of Christ. They live within that circle, self. The devil keeps them from going out of it, so that self runs through all their actions: their civil actions, yes, even their religious actions, which are all tainted with self-regard.

It has been so ever since the fall. Man withdrew himself from God’s government and set himself up instead of God. He thought to secure a happiness of his own apart from God by eating the forbidden fruit, and therefore he would not depend upon God to be happy. He saw another way to be like God. By the order of creation God has the highest place in our heart, and our esteem of things should follow their degrees of excellence, “everything being beautiful in his place” (Eccl 3:11). But where God is put down (as he is in all people until they are in Christ), self-love sets up something in the heart above God. Hence comes the necessity of this method, of taking us off from ourselves before we can live to Christ: self-love is an obstacle and a block in the way between us and Christ, heaven and happiness. And therefore Christ begins the gospel with self-denial: “Whosoever will be my disciple, let him take up his cross and follow me” (Matt 16:24).

Now there are four degrees of self: natural self, civil self, sinful self and religious self.

(1) First, natural self is the state we are in as human beings.

(2) Second, civil self is what we are as poor, or rich, or honorable, according to our various places in the commonwealth.

(3) Third, sinful self is what we are as we are carried away to sinful lusts and to the creature.

(4) Fourth, religious self is our condition in Christ, when we are grafted into him and made new creatures.

Now, we must not live to ourselves.

1. First, we must not live to our natural self. We must not live only in order to live. For as all other creatures are to serve us, so we are to serve something else that is better. What is not from itself cannot be for itself. Now we do not have our being from ourselves, but from God. He gives us our being, and a being in the rank of creatures in which we stand. Therefore our natural self must serve a higher end. Man is not the end of things. There is another end than he, and that is God, who is from himself, and has made all other things for himself, and therefore riches and honors and the like as well.

2. We should not live to our civil self. Nature teaches us that, since we have spirits, we are not made for anything lower than ourselves. We do not live here to be rich, to be great, or to command others, for these things do not answer to the soul of man.

[1] First, nothing that has an end can be a chief end. What has an end that consumes it cannot be an end that perfects. We have a journey beyond all things, and that cannot be our end which leaves us on the way. Riches and honor come to an end at death. Let our advancement be ever so great, even to the monarchy of the whole world, yet we have a being that goes beyond them. They carry their own decay within themselves.

[2] And then they are inferior. No truth in them can fill the understanding; no good in them can fill the will. The understanding can see right through them. And the will, in relishing and tasting their good, can look on them as cast-off goods. It can quickly suck out all the sweetness that is in them. Therefore they cannot be a man’s end, because he has larger capacities than they can fill.

[3] Whatever is to be a man’s end must be larger than the soul. That in which he can rest must be some universal good, fit for every turn and purpose. Now there is nothing in the world that offers more than a particular service, for people’s particular needs and particular ends. Honor can do something, but not everything. Riches cannot command health; they cannot cure a bout of fever. They serve only a particular good. They can command many things, but not all things. People consider what riches can do, and therefore they desire them. But they do not consider what riches cannot do, and therefore they rest in them. What is a man’s last end must be a satisfying, general, universal good, an immortal good, lasting as long as he does, as nothing in the world does.

[4] It must be such a good as he cannot offend against or be defiled by, such as he cannot misuse. And what is there in the world, apart from Christ, that a man is not prone to defile himself with, even the best things? Knowledge is the best thing, but it works like leaven; it swells. As the apostle says, “Knowledge puffeth up” (1 Cor 8:1). Therefore we must live to no worldly thing.

3. And much less must we live to our sinful self. Some things are to be denied when they compete with Christ and stand in opposition to him, but some things are to be denied absolutely. A man must absolutely not own or live to a base lust, such as pride or sensuality. He owes nothing to these but mortification. “We are not debtors to the flesh,” says the apostle (Rom 8:12). Therefore, when a proud, vengeful impulse arises, say: “I owe no allegiance or service to the flesh. What should these things be doing in a heart dedicated to God and consecrated to Christ? I am not my own, much less Satan’s or my lusts’. They are things to be put to death, and in no way worthy of my service.” Absolute denial is required here.

Other things need to be denied only as they stand in competition with Christ. In that case a man must sacrifice his Isaac: not only his sinful self, but his natural self as well, his life and bodily liberty, the dearest things in the world, and whatever is sweet to him, for Christ.

Having taken us off from ourselves, he assigns us to a true Lord: “We live to the Lord, and die to the Lord.” It would not have been enough to say, “We ought not to live to ourselves or die to ourselves,” if he had not told us to whom we must live and die. For by nature a man will never leave anything, even if it is only an apparent good, until he knows something better. A man will not leave a bad master until he has a better place to serve. Therefore he shows us where to bestow ourselves, namely upon Christ, who cares for us both in life and in death.

4. This is to be laid down as a ground: if we did not have a better being in Christ than in ourselves, he would never take us from ourselves, for God never bids us do anything to our loss. We have a better condition in Christ than we can have in the world. It is our gain and advantage to live and die to Christ. Though it costs us our natural self, our civil self and whatever else, yet it is our advantage. It is not a loss but a trade. We get better for worse. No one ever parted with anything for religion, or for a public good, without God making it up in a better kind. Even if God should not make it up in this world in the same kind, yet in religion all things are better than in the world.

If we lose honor here, we have honor from God. If we lose riches, we have them made up in grace here and in glory hereafter. If we lose liberty, we have it in the enlargement of a good conscience. If we lose friends, we gain God as a friend, who can make our enemies our friends. If we lose life, we are put into possession of eternal life; and therefore we need not hesitate over the bargain. We have a better being in Christ than in ourselves. Water is not lost when it empties itself into the sea, for there it is in its proper element. A Christian is not lost when he loses himself in his God, in his Savior, for in him he has a better being than in himself. He is brought nearer to the fountain: “I desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is the best of all,” says the apostle (Phil 1:23). Religion is a most excellent condition, for as “he that saveth his life shall lose it, so he that loseth his life shall save it” (Matt 10:39).

All our comforts have a better being in Christ than in ourselves. Therefore we should labor to have fellowship with him, to strengthen our faith in Christ, and to be in love with our happy condition in him, which yields comfort in life and in death. And all this is by virtue of the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ, as he says afterward: “Christ both died and rose again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Rom 14:9).

The resurrection of Christ is the crowning of all. If Christ had not risen again, where would our comfort have been? But the very thought of it, that we are grafted into one who has not only purchased us by his death (for we are the price of his blood) but, to make it clear that this is so, is now in heaven as our head, having overcome death, and intending to bring all his body where he is, as it was his will “that where he is, we should be also” (John 17:24), is a glorious thought. The glory of the Christian religion lies in the resurrection of Christ. We who are creeping here on earth shall be members of him who is glorious in heaven, “Lord of heaven and earth,” who not only died for us, but is risen again, and who will make us all, both in body and soul, conformable to his glorious self, as the apostle says to the Philippians (Phil 3:21). To consider this cannot but infuse life and vigor into all our actions, estates, and conditions, however lowly they may be, and it has a wonderful influence on the whole life of a Christian.

Sermon 2

None of us liveth to himself, and none of us dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s (Rom 14:7-8).

1. The general scope of the apostle is to draw us away from our false ends: “None of us liveth to himself.”

2. To assign us to the true object to whom we ought to dedicate ourselves, that is, “to the Lord.”

3. The ground of all: “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”

4. And then, the spring of all: “Christ both died and rose again, that he might be Lord both of quick and dead” (Rom 14:9).

Divine truths are linked and knit together; they follow one another by necessary consequence. As beams issue naturally from the body of the sun, and as in plants there is a communication from the root into the branch, so there is from Christ into all truths. Grant that he is the second Adam, and grant that he is Lord of the living and of the dead, and it will follow that we ought to live to him. If we grant that we ought to live to Christ, then we must grant that we ought not to live to ourselves. For we ought to live to Christ. Why to Christ? Because he is Lord both of life and death. Why is he Lord? Because he has purchased it by his blood. How do we know that he has purchased it by his death as a full satisfaction? Because he is risen again, and sits at the right hand of God to make all good for us.

Things are best for us when they are digested and made our own by the presence of good principles. But here is the mischief: sin is ready at hand, and good principles are not engrafted into us. If divine truths were as near to us as corruption is, we could withstand and repel all temptations.

Travelers carry the end of their journey in their thoughts habitually, though not actually, for every step they take is taken by virtue of that end. So we should consider that we are all travelers on the way to heaven, and every step of our life should be toward that end.

Ignorance of this makes the life of most men nothing but a digression from the main thing, as if they had been brought into the world only to satisfy base lusts and to seek themselves, to serve Satan and sin, the professed enemies of God. These are not only digressions, but movements toward hell and eternal destruction. What a pitiful thing it is that creatures should come into the world and live, some twenty, some forty, some more years, and go out of the world again not knowing why they lived!

There is good reason that we should live to Christ: that we should acknowledge him in all our ways, live in keeping with our knowledge, yield ourselves up to his government, and seek his glory in all things; that we may make Christ known in the world; that all who see us may see Christ in us, and perceive our love to him “that hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9).

There is good reason also to acknowledge him to be Lord of our life, and in death to yield ourselves up to him “as a faithful Creator” (1 Pet 4:19), knowing that he takes care of us in life and death.

1. For we are not our own: “We are bought with a price,” as the apostle says (1 Cor 6:20).

2. Again, we ourselves are our greatest enemies. There is no flatterer like the flatterer in our own bosom. That enemy, self, which we carry in our bosoms, betrays us to Satan; otherwise all the devils in hell could not hurt us. Self is our own enemy and God’s enemy. No, enemy is too mild, too good a word: the best thing in us is enmity itself against God.

3. By woeful experience we find that what has brought all the misery the world has ever felt is self-will. Men will be turned upside down rather than have their wills crossed. But does this not provoke God? Shall a piece of earth strive against him, and will he not break it to powder? Surely God will make us a mark to shoot at, and will triumph and get himself victory and glory over those creatures who will have their own wills. Hell is fit for such people. God will be sure to have his will on them. When the creature sets its will against God’s will, when an earthen pot sets itself against a mace of brass, which do you think will come off worst?

4. If we live to ourselves, we lie open to Satan. But on the contrary, a man who lives to God is ready for any gracious promptings, whatever they may be. He is fit for God and for a blessed communion of saints.

5. Man is a reasonable creature, made for God. And if you grant that there is a God, you must grant that man is to do service to that God. God is the creditor and man the debtor, and of necessity there must be an obligation.

Now let me show the nature of this living to Christ.

(1) It implies a vital operation, an activity that proceeds from life. As natural life springs from the union of the body with the soul, so the union of the soul with Christ brings into the soul true principles of a holy and spiritual life. For Christ and the soul cannot touch one another without his at once infusing a living principle. All artificial motions proceed from something outside. Such are the self-seeking Christians who only act a part in religion. But those who truly live to God and Christ have an inward instinct that inclines them to holiness.

(2) There is entireness in a Christian’s course, so that he lives to none but Christ. Life here means not only the span of his being in the world, but the improving of everything that furthers our life, for Christ. That is, we are to bestow ourselves on him in all the civil relations we have in the world, by being obedient to him, and to others in him and for him. And in whatever callings we are, not only in our natural life but also in our civil life, we are to go on in a constant tenor through the whole course of our lives, aiming at Christ. We are not to set ourselves in our callings to get riches (those will be thrown in along the way). God allows us riches, but not as our ends; he gives them so that we may serve him and honor him. There is no time for sinning, but there is a time for everything else.

(3) In our living to Christ there must be evenness and uniformity. We must not live to Christ by fits and starts, but constantly; not doing a good action now and then, but making it our course, our trade, to live to Christ entirely, constantly, uniformly.

(4) And then, living to the Lord implies that all a Christian’s counsel and advice is how to live to Christ. Heaven is always before him, because his way leads to God and to Christ. Other men will rage and swell when they are reminded that they are out of the way, though they know well enough that they are. But a gracious man is glad to have any Scripture opened that may give him more light, whether by discovering a sin or a duty. For now he knows an enemy and a friend whom he did not know before, and he has learned a duty he was ignorant of before; for it is his aim and endeavor to set himself in the way of living to Christ.

(5) He who lives to Christ also has this quality: he is not carried on his course by false winds; he does not sail by a false compass. Whether the world encourages or discourages him, it is all one; he does not regard it. His care is wholly taken up in the service of his God. Let the world think what it will, he says with Joshua that he and his house will serve the Lord (Josh 24:15); and with holy David he resolves to be yet more vile for God’s glory (2 Sam 6:22). And though he meets with disgrace in the world, he does not regard it, but is willing to suffer it so long as his God may be honored, knowing that he will not be a loser by the bargain.

Other men, if they are disgraced, are so shallow in religion that they are quickly drawn off, because the truth has no root in them, like the bad and worthless ground. And not only that, but they will speak contrary to the truths in their own consciences. But alas! One day they will know that God counts them as his enemies.

(6) Again, a true Christian will live to the church of Christ. For we are members of Christ. We ought to labor for the advancement of the truth of his religion, the kingdom of Christ, and to be of the same spirit as good Nehemiah, “that all may be well with us, when the church of God prospereth” (Neh 2:20), and grows up in the world, getting victory over all her enemies.

Now carnal men do not live to Christ at all; they do not care whether religion sinks or swims. Tell them of heavenly matters: tush, such things are not for them. But God hates such persons. For as they do not care to serve God, or to own Christ in their lives, so he will not own them at their deaths. As in prosperity they are not on his side, and will not take his part (which one day will prove the best), so in times of trouble they cannot expect or look for any favor or mercy from him.

And to add one thing more: though it must be our chief aim to look to Christ, yet God allows us to look also to our own salvation, how we may be saved and happy in another world. God has joined these two together as one chief end and good: the one, that he might be glorified; the other, that we might be happy. And both of these are attained by honoring and serving him. This is no self-love; for we cannot seek our salvation except by honoring God and yielding to the means he has sanctified for us, which is to cast ourselves on him for our salvation in his way. Thus our happiness and God’s chief end agree together.

When two circles are drawn around a center, one within the other, a third line cannot be drawn from the outermost circle to the center without cutting the inner one, because it is enclosed within the other. So our salvation and happiness lie within the glory of God, and we live to Christ not only in serving him, but in seeking the good of our own souls. And what sweetness this is in God, that in seeking our own good we should glorify him!

This likewise teaches us to live to Christ in a way of humility and self-denial. God will not refuse to teach the humble and lowly soul his ways. And so a gracious man is fit for all the counsels of God, as a carnal heart is fit for all the services of the devil. Therefore let us dedicate ourselves and our services to God, for happy are those who can lose themselves in God and be swallowed up in the love of Christ. Certainly we never find ourselves better than when we are lost in this way. And therefore I beg you, whatever our corruptions have been before now, let us now know that it is heavenly wisdom to seek Christ’s glory in the use of the blessed means sanctified for that end.

Surely we have all been baptized; and what is our baptism but the renouncing of the world, the flesh, and the devil? Our life is for nothing but to live to God. And having entered into covenant in baptism, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that we intend seriously to lead a new life, we must not trifle with God; he will not be trifled with. The precious time we have already spent amiss is not only enough, but more than enough. For the time will come, if we belong to Christ, when we will lament having spent our time in the pursuit of our own vanities.

For if we live according to our own lusts, we are nothing but rebels wearing God’s livery; we are nothing but traitors fighting under his banner. And how can we give account at the day of judgment for our lives, if they have been nothing but a constant service of Christ’s enemies under the cover of religion? This deserves serious thought.

Therefore, since we know a great deal, and are indebted to God for living in times and places where the truth is revealed in abundance, we ought to make it our life and course to honor him, to be vigorous in his service, and to stir up the grace of God in us; to awaken ourselves and live to Christ, and to put this question to our souls: Whom do I serve, myself or Christ? Him or his enemies?

Out of the text you may see that a Christian will learn how to conduct himself, not only toward himself but toward Christ. His conduct toward himself is to live as a Christian exercised in his duty and calling. His conduct toward Christ is to live to him and die to him. For this end he takes this course: he searches out what is unsound and corrupt in himself, and when he has found himself out, he abhors himself and judges himself. And having found corruption in his heart, he not only loathes it but crucifies it. This is the course a Christian takes with himself in searching out and discovering his sins.

This being done, he sets up Christ in the place of self, which rules in all men until they are Christians indeed, whether by way of admission or of covenant. But when grace has once taken its place in the heart, the soul begins to live to Christ, and that conscientiously, entirely, and uniformly, considering in all things how to help and further that life. Other men consider how they may keep their honors and reputations in the world. But a Christian, having other aims, devises not only ways to live to Christ, but how to become better and better, how to get into Christ and how to grow up in him, knowing that by living to Christ here he will live with him forever hereafter. This is the course of a true Christian, one who looks to have benefit from Christ.

Sermon 3

None of us liveth to himself, and none of us dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s (Rom 14:7-8).

We have heard from the apostle’s general negative that self must be removed out of the way before we can live or die to Christ. Self, indeed, will intrude into everything until the Spirit of Christ is all in all in us. It is like Esau, who came first out of the womb. It will show itself first in all our deliberations. And therefore this is the method of our blessed Savior: “Whosoever will be my disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross” (Matt 16:24). And it will be easy to do so once we have denied ourselves.

From the apostle’s general affirmative we have shown that to live to the Lord is to acknowledge ourselves to be his, and him to be ours; and accordingly to do him service, to yield ourselves up to him, to seek his glory and honor and credit in all things, and to be well persuaded that he will stand by us. So it is a comfort as well as a duty.

To die to the Lord is to be willing to give ourselves up to him when the time comes, and to submit to him for the manner of our death, whether he will call us home to himself by a quiet or a troubled death, by a bloody or a bloodless death, with confidence that he will receive our souls.

That we may be directed to fix on a right end, we may know by the principles of nature that a man is not for himself. From the order in which God has placed him, all things below are for him, but he is for something above himself. He is not of himself, and therefore not to himself. God alone is of himself, by himself, and to himself. Everything under God is of God and by God, and therefore to God. As St. Augustine says, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts do not rest till we come to you,” just as the rivers never rest until they empty themselves into the ocean.

And since man is not his own end, it is his wisdom and understanding to look principally to that which is his last, best, and main end, which is God, and union and communion with God in Christ, who is God in our nature, God-man, the best of all; and therefore it is fitting that he should be the last. He communicates all good to those who are his, and preserves all the good he communicates. He is with them forever, and cannot fail to do them good as long as he does not fail to be good. He is the original cause, the communicating cause, and the maintaining cause of all good.

Now it is the nature of the utmost and furthest end to stir us up to every action leading to that end. For every deliberate, rational action that is done with attention and observation, and is not an action of fancy or of mere nature, must fall under the consideration of an end; otherwise we cannot give account for it, as we must for every word, desire, and thought.

Now the end stirs us up to all the means leading to that end, either immediately, as they are properly the services of God, or else remotely, as things that help reason and are furtherances toward that service. So the apostle wills “that whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do” (1 Cor 10:31), all should be done to the glory of God, because these things maintain us in health and strength, and that health and strength enable us for God’s service. And in this sense every action a Christian does is a service of God; for the end advances it, raises it above itself, and makes it spiritual, as with recreation to cheer him on to diligence in his calling, the serving of his brother, and the like. Some actions are holy in their stuff and matter; others are holy because of the end to which they are directed. For the meanest action becomes holy if a holy end is put upon it.

And therefore the actions of the second table of the law are the service of God as well as those of the first, since they all agree in the end. No man wrongs a magistrate against the second table without wronging God against the first. No man steals, or commits adultery, or disgraces his neighbor by false witness, which is prohibited in the second, except for want of the fear of God commanded in the first.

Duties of the second table, rightly performed, are done by virtue of the commandments of the first, when they are done not only from human and lower grounds, as things good in themselves, but also because God and Christ have commanded them. And that is included in the general words “living to the Lord”; for to live is comprehensive, and includes all our actions from the beginning to the end and closing of our days. Whatever actions fall within the term of life ought to be referred to God as the last end.

1. The reason is that Christ has redeemed our persons, and our times, and all that we are, or have, or can do. All our ability, our whole capacity, is Christ’s and not our own. I must be filled up with actions suitable to Christ; therefore if I could do a thousand times more than I do, it would all be due to him. Myself, my time, my advantages, my calling, and everything else are his.

2. Again, as the end stirs us up to actions of all kinds, so it prescribes a measure to those actions, to do them only so far as is advantageous to that end. As one who has a race to run will measure his diet to suit that end, so one whose aim is to live to Christ will use all things here as they may serve that purpose. He will use the world as if he used it not, will buy as if he possessed not, will marry as if he married not. Not that he will be slight or superficial in these things; but he will do them no further than may be advantageous to the enjoying of Christ here, as comfortably as he can, and forever hereafter.

Indeed, no man can set measures to his desire for happiness, that being a vast ocean; his main end cannot be desired too much. For since it is his good and happiness, it is larger than himself; yes, his thoughts and desires are too short to reach it. But though a man cannot desire health too much, he may desire too much medicine. The measure must lie in our pursuit of inferior things, because there we are apt to exceed. And that is the advantage a Christian has in setting a right end. He will not be drowned in the world, nor live for recreations, but for a farther aim, one which prescribes a measure and duration to all things else.

3. The end likewise makes everything that tends to the end lovely. It makes the cross lovely, for by it we grow better and gain more of a large communion with Christ. Welcome is poverty, or disgrace, or whatever makes a man live more to Christ and die to himself. Men call for medicine, though it is distasteful in itself, because it serves health, an end which we desire without end. So it is the disposition of a gracious soul: if Christ bestows himself on him and communicates his gracious Spirit, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, and increase of the image of God, then let God lay on us what he will, yet it will appear lovely.

4. It likewise prescribes a right order for every duty. For as the end sets one thing above another, so a wise man who looks to his best end will do the main work first, and other things in the second place, according to our Savior’s counsel: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other things shall be cast upon you” (Matt 6:33). Some indeed love to be wholly taken up with side work, and meanwhile neglect and slight the main thing. But our care should be so to use the world that we do not lose Christ, or communion with him in better things; so to look to things temporal that we do not lose things eternal. For as things are in themselves, so they should be to us. Now as one thing is better than another, so we should think of them, and love them as better than another, and labor to do them before another, as deserving the first place. And that is why the saints have so prized and embraced communion with God and Christ. “One thing I desire,” says the prophet, that is, “to dwell in the house of the Lord for ever” (Ps 27:4). And “one thing is necessary,” says Christ (Luke 10:42). Other things are necessary in their order, but to have communion with God is the one thing chiefly necessary.

Use. Let us therefore often consider the end of our life in this world, and take shame to ourselves that we have let so much water run past the mill, that we have let so much precious time and strength and so many dear advantages be lost. Too much strength has been spent in the service of sin and our base lusts, for which we can give no account. How many scandalous, blasphemous words are many people guilty of, which serve only to hasten their destruction, if God is not merciful!

Now let me show a little of the way of the world, and how it differs from the actions of God’s children; for these words imply a restraint upon God’s people as well as an extension.

Objection. The Christian’s whole life is only to Christ; but what is the life of a man out of Christ?

Answer. His first aims are corrupt. “God is not in all his thoughts,” as the psalmist speaks (Ps 10:4), neither to have communion with him here in grace, nor in glory hereafter. Therefore whatever good he does, a false end poisons it. If a man’s misunderstanding of a thing comes from a false principle, he misunderstands it grossly. When a house is built on a weak foundation, so is the whole structure, however costly it may be otherwise. If the principles are bad, the conclusions drawn from them must needs be bad also. As in medicine, if the first digestion is bad, the second can never be good.

So if a man’s ends are bad, if he seeks himself, or does things only from outside motives, out of terror of conscience, or for vainglory, or to be seen by men, his corrupt aim spoils all his actions. Yes, he reduces religion to himself, so that he may enjoy his pleasures the better. He will act some part of religion, lest conscience should bark and clamor against him. This self will moderate religion and restrain it to such a measure as may stand with his lusts and sinful customs.

If he loves others, it is for his own sake, because he has use of them, as they go along with him in wicked courses, and so help to carry him through all the better.

And if anyone stands in the way of his aims of honor or riches, he removes them by disgrace, even if it amounts to slander, undermining others and rising by their ruin, because self, his idol and main end, must not be crossed. He wants to be somebody in the flesh. Everything must be measured by that: religion, acquaintance, and all. Whatever stands in the way, he cries it down; and if he can do nothing else, he kills people in the esteem of others, so that he himself may be thought something. And so everything is turned clean contrary, upside down.

But a gracious man’s end and aim is to get out of himself and his corrupt nature, and to order all his actions with reference to that, and all his acquaintance and communion with others so that they may help his communion with God. And whatever is an obstacle to that, he labors to remove.

But let me give you some directions for how to live, not to ourselves, but to live and die to the Lord.

First, we must have a spiritual life from him, for life is only the issue of life.

We must live by faith, from union with Christ by faith, and then live to Christ.

And again, we must do it constantly and uniformly. No part of our lives must be cut off from Christ. Everything must be done with reference to him; even our recreations must have some good aims in them.

Motives. Now only consider that we are his. We are not our own, but his, and therefore we ought to live to him, bringing in all our strength, all our advantages, and our callings. So that we may do him service in our places, we are redeemed even from ourselves. A world of people think they are redeemed to live as they please. But because God is merciful and Christ is a Savior, may you therefore live like libertines? No. You are redeemed from yourselves, not to yourselves.

And to the rules already given let me add this: living to Christ (though by nature we count it bondage, because it means acknowledging a superior) is the most perfect liberty. To serve God is to reign. For whoever serves something better and larger than himself, something with more goodness and ability than himself, advances himself by his service and frees himself from the service of everything beneath him. For the more dependent a man is on Christ in his service, and in expecting his reward from him, the more independent he is of the world. And indeed, who is free in his thoughts and desires from base entanglements with the creature, except the one who sets Christ highest in his soul and lets him prescribe the rules of his life? Who in the world is freer than those whose hearts are freed from excessive love of earthly things, excessive fear of earthly things, and excessive delight in earthly things? Such a man uses them as helps toward the main thing, but is not entangled in or enslaved to any of them. “The more subject, the more free,” is St. Augustine’s rule. And it is undoubtedly so. You will find by experience that the soul is never at a more gracious liberty than when Christ is all in all.

We see it in the example of Zacchaeus. As soon as he believed in Christ, immediately it was, “Half my goods I give to the poor” (Luke 19:8). St. Paul, who had been all for the world and vainglory, can now say, “My life is not dear to me, so I may finish my course with joy” (Acts 20:24), and in comparison of Christ, all is dung (Phil 3:8). When Moses had seen God, who is invisible, he was freed from all base dependence on Pharaoh’s favor. More than that, he “esteemed the reproaches of Christ better than all the riches of Egypt” (Heb 11:26). And this is what makes people’s stomachs inwardly turn against Christians: they are not the kind of people who serve the times and their turns. They will not prostitute their consciences and their religion for anyone’s pleasure. Other men, by contrast, however naturally bold and strong in their gifts, have base aims and hearts fastened to the world, and so they debase their very natures. When their end comes into competition with honesty, they love their end more than goodness. As Christ tells the Pharisees, “You cannot believe, that seek honor one of another” (John 5:44).

This is what makes a Christian better than his neighbor: he has a better aim. All other men have narrow spirits, whose hearts are not filled with the enlarging spirit of grace and of Christ. But the course of the children of God runs contrary to the stream of the world. Let others take whatever course they will; it does not matter, for the children of God will look to themselves. It is good for them to draw near to God and to be guided by his Spirit. A Christian seeks communion with him who is all in all, with an infinite good, with God in Christ, with Christ the God-man, and with happiness. Another man is cramped in his affections, confined to some particular good that is lower than himself, and this makes him a base-spirited man. Whoever enlarges his heart to seek out a condition larger and better than himself is both wise and happy. To make a Christian, one would need no more than sanctified judgment: to see that God is God, that Christ is Christ, that the word is the word, and that rules which cannot be denied are true. No one can deny them unless he means to be an atheistic beast, sunk below himself. And therefore Lactantius says well, “Religion is the true wisdom.” Let a man have sound judgment, and he must necessarily be a Christian, since the necessity and excellence of religion stand on such undeniable grounds.

Objection. “Oh, but I will lose my reputation,” says the doubting heart of man, “and be counted a fool. I will lose my friends and my contentment if I become religious and serious in earnest.”

Answer. These are idle objections. They talk as if people were not better off in these very respects in religion than in the world, as if God commanded us to our loss, as if Christ called us to follow him to our disadvantage. Surely not! He is Lord of heaven and earth, and he can repay us in this world. But what is all the pleasure here compared with the pleasure of a good conscience? What is friendship here compared with communion with God, friendship with Christ, and the protection of angels? What are riches compared with him who is the fountain of all riches? Did Moses not know what he was doing when he forsook Pharaoh’s court? Or Paul, when he said, “to be with Christ is best of all” (Phil 1:23)? Did Abraham not know what he was doing when he left his father’s house and followed God, even to the point of giving up Isaac, whom he knew God could raise up again, since God is all-sufficient (Heb 11:19)? Perhaps I lose a friend, or some petty pleasure or contentment. But that was only a particular good, serving a particular turn. In its place I have God, who is all-sufficient for every turn, who is near to me, and never nearer than when I deny myself something for his sake. A man never has more of God than when he denies himself most for God. For in whatever measure we empty ourselves of love for any creature, in that same measure God fills the soul with contentments of a higher kind. We have within us that very particular good we parted with, and we have peace and grace besides, which are incomparably above it. Think of that, and it will be an infinite encouragement to live to Christ.

And therefore take these rules. Seek the end in the means. Can I have Christ as my end, and my riches, pleasures, and friends as well? It is well. But if I cannot have my end along with these things, away with them! When they are gone, the end will remain. Christ will continue, though they leave us. We may enjoy anything here if the main end can be enjoyed along with it. If not, let us be willingly stripped of everything, for we will be stripped of it all by death anyway. God has enough. He has all things at his command, and he has wisdom enough to provide in a thousand ways, so that we will not be losers by him, no, not even in this life.

Consider, then, what it is to give ourselves to the Lord. When we give ourselves, we give everything else along with ourselves. “They gave themselves to the Lord” (2 Cor 8:5), and then, as the apostle says, they would easily part with their goods.

But we will never give ourselves to the Lord until we consider what he has done for us. He has given himself wholly for us. He left heaven for us, denied himself for us, made himself of no reputation for us, became a worm and no man, a curse for us. And by way of repayment we should answer him by giving ourselves and all we have to him. This is to be a Christian in earnest. Christ has given himself to me, and therefore I will give my goods, myself, and my life to Christ: in affection and readiness of spirit, though not yet in action; and in action too, whenever he calls for them. I am not my own; he has myself. And the fruit goes with the ground: he shall have whatever is mine. If he calls me to suffer losses, crosses, disgrace, or death itself, welcome all of it. I am his, and therefore whatever is mine is his. And it is no more than he has done for me. He went so low that he could not have gone lower and still be God. He has raised my nature as high as my nature could be raised, by union with his person, and he will raise my person to heaven. And therefore the martyrs were willing to part with their lives. They “loved not their lives to death,” as Christ’s phrase is (Rev 12:11). “He that loveth his life shall lose his life” (John 12:25). “My life is not dear to me,” says St. Paul (Acts 20:24), so ready was he to resign everything for Christ.

Reason. The reason, which I hope will not be forgotten, is this: we have a better being in God than in ourselves. If we lose our natural life, we have a better life in him. If we lose our riches, we have them in heavenly treasures. The water that runs into the sea is not lost; it is still in the ocean, its better receptacle.

It was St. Paul’s desire “to be dissolved and to be with Christ, which is best of all” (Phil 1:23). But if he will have me serve the church here and enjoy my life longer, his will be done. So the Christian lives to the Lord and dies to the Lord. Whatever comes, he is ready for either: whether he lives or dies, he is the Lord’s.

Sermon 4

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s (Rom 14:7-8).

In these words the apostle takes us off from ourselves and assigns us to a true end. The first thing grace does is to set God and Christ in their own place, the heart. Then, in the second place, it produces a regard for ourselves such as is consistent with the love of Christ. For until Christ has a place in the heart, through our coming to some degree of self-denial, self hinders us in our whole course, both of believing and of doing. For by nature we have principles contrary to every article of faith, and impulses contrary to all the commands of God. Self hinders us in our duties to God, to others, and to ourselves. And therefore to what I said before I may add this consideration.

Doctrine. It is no easy thing to be a Christian. If we were required to renounce anything else, we could bring ourselves to do it sooner than to deny ourselves. For what is nearer to ourselves than ourselves? A thousand rivers of oil, the first fruits of the body, would be given for the sin of the soul (Mic 6:7). That outward mortification so much magnified in popery is nothing compared with renouncing a lust. But if we would be Christians in earnest, we must be stripped of ourselves; as they say of the serpent, it must part with its old slough. We must have a higher principle than ourselves before we can do it. A Christian is above himself, better than himself, and stronger than himself, because he has a better self than himself. And by virtue of that better self, which is grace in his heart, he is able to bring under all his other self, not only his sinful self but his natural self. Neither his life nor anything else is dear to him in comparison with Christ.

Therefore we must not imagine religion to be easy. Indeed, if we had sanctified judgments and hearts set at liberty, it would be an easy thing. Suppose our judgment saw that we are never more ourselves than when we are not ourselves, that we have a better being in Christ than in ourselves, and that we ourselves are our worst enemies. If the judgment were possessed with this, and the will and affections were made to answer to this judgment, it would be easy to deny ourselves. But self hinders the knowledge of itself all it can. Sin by nature hinders the knowledge of its own foulness. What should discern sin is clouded, and what should hate sin is pledged to sin. So under the use of the means we must labor to know our condition, and the foulness and danger of that condition. And this is the excellence of God’s ordinances and divine truths: by them we come to know ourselves. But I will not enlarge on that.

We have declared what it is to live and die to the Lord: it is to make Christ one’s chief aim and end, and to do everything in virtue of that end. A Christian is in his right temper when God’s end, Christ’s end, and his own end have the same center. That is a most excellent qualification.

What makes God delight so much in his children is that they have the same end, the same God, and the same Spirit as Christ. It is so excellent to set a right end before all our actions that it makes common actions spiritual. As St. Paul says of servants, they serve the Lord in serving their masters (Eph 6:5). Whatever the stuff of our actions may be, in the aim and spirit in which they are done they may be services to the Lord.

Now “life” implies the whole course of our actions. All our actions should be done to the Lord, either immediately and directly, or indirectly and by way of reference back to him, as they are quickened by the Spirit of God. And that is the excellence of a Christian. He weighs everything by how far it helps his final end, just as, on the other side, a base worldling weighs religion and everything else by how well it suits his worldly aims. But to speak of the next point: “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”

Inference. This is the inference drawn from the two former general statements, the negative and the affirmative: “None of us liveth to ourselves, or dieth to ourselves.” And from this it is inferred, “whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”

And as it is an inference drawn from what comes before, so we may also consider it as a reason why we must “live to the Lord, and die to the Lord: for whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”

The words are a sure ground and foundation for a Christian’s comfort in the uncertainty of his condition here, placed as he is between life and death. He is as sure of death as of life, but when he will die and how long he will live are uncertain to him. But be that as it may, this is certain: “living and dying, he is the Lord’s.”

So take the whole condition of a Christian, take him in every state of life or death. These two divide the whole condition of man, for all people can be ranked in these two orders of “quick and dead.” Consider a Christian, I say, in either of them, and Christ is Lord of both. Take him in the condition of life: while he lives, “he is the Lord’s.” When he gives up his breath, “he is the Lord’s.” So whatever becomes of him in this uncertain condition, this is certain and sure: “he is the Lord’s.”

Now a lord is one who has dominion over persons and things, a right to them and the disposing of them as he pleases. And so Christ is Lord both of life and death.

1. In general, he is Lord of all creatures by creation, God having given all power into his hands, both in heaven and earth (Matt 28:18).

2. In a more particular manner and right, he is Lord of all who are his by a special gift from all eternity. God has given us to Christ in his eternal electing love. “Thine they were, and thou gavest them me,” says Christ (John 17:6).

3. Then we are Christ’s by his own purchase. We were bought at the price of his blood. “We are bought with a price” (1 Cor 6:20), “not of gold or silver, but with his precious blood” (1 Pet 1:18). By that price God’s justice is satisfied. God so gave us to Christ that he also gave Christ to redeem us and to shed his blood for us, so that his justice might be no loser.

4. We are his by conquest. For being so excellent a person as the God-man, he has rescued us from all our enemies: sin, Satan, death, hell, and whatever else there is. What have they to do with us once God’s justice is satisfied?

5. Those who are true believers are his by reason of the special interest he and they have in each other. They give themselves over to him by a contract of marriage and covenant, and therefore he is Lord of them by their yielding themselves to him as Lord. They take him for a Lord as well as for a Savior, and that is the foundation of the spiritual marriage and of the covenant of grace on both sides. Christ gives himself to us, and we, by the Spirit of Christ, have grace to give ourselves back to him.

By our own voluntary contract we have given ourselves up to him in our effectual calling, which is our answer to God’s call. When he calls on us to believe, to take him, the soul answers, “Lord, I believe, and I accept you.” St. Peter calls this “the answer of a good conscience” (1 Pet 3:21). It is when we can say, “I am yours, you are mine, and I yield myself to you, to be disposed of by you.” No Christian can claim Christ as his Lord unless this contract has passed between his soul and Christ.

So if you look to God the Father, we are Christ’s by donation. If you regard Christ himself, we are his by purchase. If we regard the enemies we have, we are Christ’s by conquest. If we regard ourselves, we are his by voluntary acceptance of the covenant of grace, and by a contract passed between him and us. Yes, and Christ is so our Lord that he is our husband; our Lord as our king; our Lord as our head. We owe him subjection as subjects; subjection as his spouse; subjection as his disciples, to be taught by him, our Lord and Master.

Now the title of Lord is usually given to Christ rather than to God the Father, both in the New Testament and in the Old as well.

And if there were no other reason for it, it is enough that God so styles him.

But secondly, God in the second person has done those things that make him our Lord, more than the Father or the Holy Spirit. For in the second person he has taken our nature, has died and risen again for us, and has conquered all our enemies. In the second person he has made us his spouse, his members, and near to him in every degree of nearness. And because God in the second person has done all this, in the second person he is more often called Lord than God the Father or the Holy Spirit. And therefore God the Father “hath made him Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).

This is a point of wonderful comfort, and not only a comfort but a direction for how to conduct ourselves. It is not only a point of dignity and privilege, but a duty.

1. It is a great comfort that “we are the Lord’s,” and the Lord’s in a special manner, as I said before. The devil is the Lord’s; the earth is the Lord’s; everything is the Lord’s. But we are the Lord’s by eternal donation, by purchase, by conquest, and by voluntary yielding to him. And therefore it is a most excellent condition.

Question. What is this Lord?

Answer. If we are Christ’s, we have him for our Lord: that is, the Lord of life, the Lord of glory, the Lord of grace; that is, Lord of lords and King of kings. He is an independent Lord. No one is above him, the Father and he agreeing together; if you know one, you know both. He is an absolute Lord, a free Lord; he has no dependence at all on any creature whatever. He is an eternal Lord, and we have an eternal being in him, for we still are when we are dead. And therefore the apostle divides it: “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” We still have our being when we are dead, and a Lord whose continuance is equal to our own, a King forever. Therefore it is a point of wonderful comfort.

Objection. But you will say, “Freedom is a sweet thing, especially freedom from government, so as to have no lord to control us. How then can it be so excellent a state to have Christ as our Lord?”

Answer. 1. Beloved, we are creatures. We are neither from ourselves, nor by ourselves, nor for ourselves.

2. Besides, we have enemies greater than ourselves, the powers of hell. And therefore, if we did not have someone better above us, what would become of us but to be wholly subjected to the power of our enemies? It is the happiness of the inferior to be in full subjection to the superior. It is the happiness of beasts to be under man, so that they may be kept from destruction. It is the happiness of the weak to have tutors and governors. It is the perfection of inferiors to yield a gracious subjection to what is better than themselves.

For everything is perfected by being subject to that which is better; and therefore so are we, especially in our fallen condition, seeing that we are our own greatest enemies.

3. God in love will not trust us with ourselves since the fall, but will have our happiness depend on and be subject to another: to a God in our nature, an excellent Lord. And he is an excellent Lord because, as I said before, Christ has all authority in heaven and earth committed to him, not only over us but over our enemies, so that they shall not do us harm. Indeed, he cannot be Lord of the church unless he is Lord of all creatures in heaven and earth, so that no creature may harm his church. He has universal authority over all things, and all for the church’s sake.

4. And then he has all the good qualities of a Lord: not only authority, but wisdom and strength and power and bounty and goodness, and whatever may make him a gracious Lord. And therefore it is our perfection to be in subjection to this Lord.

To set forth a little the excellency of this Lord: he has the sweetness of all superiors whatever. As he has taken the name of every superiority that is sweet and lovely, so he has the affections of them all, and in a far higher degree than all. He is a Lord as a husband is; he loves more than any husband can. He is a Lord as a king is; he can do more for us than any king. He has all power in heaven, and earth, and hell, over the devils themselves. “All knees bow to him, of things in heaven and in earth, and under the earth” (Phil 2:10). And he is Lord as a head is. Whatever superiority is near and dear, that he is to his church.

He requires service. Yes, but he is such a Lord as enables us to serve him; he “helpeth our infirmities” by his Spirit (Rom 8:26). Without him we can do nothing, but in him we can do all.

And as he enables us to perform service, so he rewards every service, every good thought. Nothing that is done for Christ’s sake is lost, not even a cup of cold water. He gives strength to perform it, accepts it as a work of his Spirit, and then rewards it. He is such a Lord that he stands up for his own; such a Lord that he appears for us now in heaven against all the accusations of Satan. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s people? For Christ makes intercession for them. He stood up for his disciples here on earth, and was ready to defend them on every occasion; and he is just as ready in heaven to stand up for his subjects and servants. He will answer all the accusations of a malicious world against his church and children, “and will bring forth their righteousness to light, as the noonday” (Ps 37:6). He stands up for their good name, and pledges himself to defend and protect his Mount Zion, his church.

And to add one thing more out of the text concerning the excellency of this Lord: he is an unchangeable Lord. His love is as he himself is, and his care as he himself is: eternal. “For whether we live or die, we are his.” What other people living under a government can say so? For all their governors’ love and care ends in death. In the meantime their minds are changeable, and their affections may die before they themselves do. How many have been cast off in their old age! But God will not do so. “Forsake me not in my gray hairs,” says David (Ps 71:18). He is our Lord while we live, and he does not leave us when we leave off living, but is our God to death, in death, and after death, and forever. It is a relation that holds for eternity, as our Savior Christ says of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God of Abraham. Abraham is dead; Isaac and Jacob are rotten in their graves. Yes, but their souls are in heaven; and because he is their whole God, their bodies shall be raised again and united with their souls, and be forever with the Lord.

In all the changes and interchanges of things in this world, we need something to hold on to; and the Christian has this to hold on to, which never fails. He is the Lord’s, and the Lord is his; he is Christ’s, and Christ is his. Christ has a love that is like himself, unchangeable. “Whom the Lord loveth, he loveth to the end” (John 13:1). The promises made in Christ are like Christ: the promises of grace here and of glory hereafter are certain. As his nature and love are unchangeable, so the fruit of his love in his gracious promises is always certain. They are the everlasting portion of the church.

The good things promised are everlasting likewise. We may build upon them. We cannot build on riches here, or on life here, but we may build on eternal life, eternal glory and happiness.

So then, cast a Christian into whatever condition you will, he has God and Christ in covenant with him, and the love of Christ, and all the gracious promises, and the things promised. And these do not vary. Life varies: we may live now and die tomorrow; but whether we live or die, these four things I have mentioned are certainly ours.

A Christian cannot say of anything here that it will be his for long. His estate is his now, and there are many ways to take it away. His friends are his now, but their friendship may decline. Anything in the world may be ours today in such a way that it is not ours tomorrow. And therefore, if in this variety of conditions we did not have something that remains afterward, where would our comfort be? We may outlive all comfort here, but we cannot outlive our happiness in Christ: “for whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”

To speak of this a little as it yields comfort in death. “We are the Lord’s,” not only while we live, but when we die. Why? Because we have a being in Christ when we die. Christ is a living root: “because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19). This Lord is the Lord of life, and therefore whoever is one with the Lord of life can indeed never die. Death is only a change from a natural, gracious life here to a glorious life in another world; from the church at war here to the church triumphant in heaven.

It is not properly death, for misery dies, and death itself dies; we do not die. Death overthrows itself, but a Christian’s life is hidden with Christ. When he dies, he dies to live, and is found in Christ at the day of judgment, and shall be forever with Christ. Therefore it is no great matter what kind of death a Christian dies, because he dies in the Lord.

“Blessed are they that die in the Lord” (Rev 14:13). He does not say, those that die a peaceful death. A wretch, an opposer, a hypocrite may do that, and go to hell. But blessed are they that die in the Lord, because Christ is their Lord in death. And so the apostle says in Heb 11:13: “All these died in faith.” He does not say they all died a peaceful death, for they did not; many of them died a bloody death. Yet they “all died in faith,” and so they died in the Lord.

And therefore, when we read in the histories of the church that some were torn in pieces by wild beasts, that they gave the bodies of the saints to the fowls of heaven, as David has it (Ps 79:2), something that may discourage some from being Christians, let us not think it matters at all: “they died in faith.” And as the psalmist says, “precious to the Lord is the death of all his saints” (Ps 116:15). For he takes notice of them in their lives; and not only of their lives, but of the hairs of their head, which are all numbered. He takes notice of the tears that fall from their eyes, and will he not take notice of their blood? He takes notice of their persons, their hairs, their tears; and will he part with their lives for nothing? No. He will be paid for the lives of his children. When he parts with them, his enemies shall be sure to pay for it. He will be avenged on them for it, as the blood of Naboth was avenged on Ahab. So he will be revenged on all the persecutors of his church, and will take a strict account of every drop of blood that has been shed, for their persons are precious. God takes special notice of them. They are his members, his spouse, and near to him.

And then, he will not have them die until they have done their work. He takes special notice of them all their life. And when they have done what they came for, as Christ says of himself, “I have done the work thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4), then he sends for them home. They do not die at random, but under the care of one who knows them well, both in life and in death.

And that is why God has taken such vengeance on the persecutors of his church for the blood of his saints, from the blood of Abel to this day.

And as “the death of his saints is precious,” so are all things that the saints have. Their good name is precious; their goods are precious. God takes notice of everything they part with for his sake. As he and all that is his are ours (himself, his happiness, his Spirit, his privileges), so when we are his, all that is ours is his. He takes care of our lives, of our deaths, of our good names, of our riches, of our estates. We part with nothing for him but he considers it and will reward it abundantly.

“He that dieth in the Lord is a blessed man”; so says the Spirit (Rev 14:13). The flesh will not say so, but will rather conclude, “Who would be so religious? Such people venture their lives, and are counted as the offscouring of the world.” The devil will teach this lesson, and so will the world, since they have lived in the flesh and will sell everything to be somebody in the world, though they go to hell when they are done. But, says the Spirit, blessed are they who not only die for the Lord as martyrs, but who die in the Lord. Whether they seal the truth of God with their blood or die otherwise, they die happily. And so this is a ground of special comfort.

And as it is a ground of special comfort, so it is a ground of direction. “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” Therefore it may be a foundation for living to the Lord. If we are the Lord’s, surely we ought to live to him. If we are his, all our endeavors, whatever is ours, are his. The fruit and the soil go together; and therefore, if we are the Lord’s in life and death, we must not live to ourselves as our own, but give ourselves to him, and not to anything else. We are not our own, nor any man’s, but the Lord’s. And therefore we ought not to yield ourselves up to our self-will, self-wisdom, and self-love, to be at our own disposal and to live as we choose. We are redeemed from ourselves, yes, from all our vain ways of life.

Some think that because Christ died, they may give themselves to vanity, especially at the solemn season of Christ’s birth. The devil has so prevailed with the world, and will until the church has a new face; they never honor the devil more than when they seem to honor Christ. For, they say, Christ came to set us at liberty. Did he? Yes, but it was to deliver us from wickedness, yes, from vain ways of life, and not to purchase us liberty to live as we choose. “Our tongues are our own,” say the people in the psalm (Ps 12:4). Yes, but Christ says they are not your own; they are his. And if they are not Christ’s, they are the devil’s. Our thoughts are not our own; all should be dedicated to Christ. Therefore we should be content that Christ should set up his government in our souls, so that he may rule our thoughts, our desires, our language, and our members, that they may all be “weapons of righteousness” (Rom 6:13).

We have nothing of our own, much less sin, from which we are redeemed. And we are redeemed not only from gross sins, but from such ways of life as are vain in themselves and will prove vain to you.

And when we are redeemed from sin and from vain ways of life, we are redeemed from ourselves, from the world, from the devil. Whom, then, does a man have to serve? None but this Lord. We have renounced all others in baptism; and we are revolters and rebels, and renounce our baptismal covenant, if we do not renounce the world and its lusts in our lives.

We must not serve ourselves, for we are redeemed from ourselves; not only from our carnal selves, but from our natural selves. Christ is Lord of our natures. And a Christian ought to say, “Lord, from you I had this body; from you I had this life of mine, these goods of mine, this good name of mine, this reputation and place in the world. As I had all from you, so I return all to you again.”

And as we are not our own, so we must not be other men’s. We are not servants of men, as the apostle says (1 Cor 7:23). We must not take on trust the opinions that others would put upon us, nor whatever we please ourselves in religion. We must not hold men’s persons in admiration for the sake of advantage. We must not idolize any creature; for as we are not our own, so we are not anyone else’s, but we are the Lord’s.

The happiness of a Christian is to be independent of creatures. He may use them as subordinate helps, but he is to depend on this Lord alone for what to believe and what to speak, and not to take up this or that opinion to please this or that man and so rise to greatness by it.

It is a base thing to say, “I believe as my parents believe.” Are you your parents’? Your parents are the servants of this great Lord, whose you are, and to whom it is your duty to yield yourselves.

Use 1. And therefore, when you are solicited to any sin, make the same use of this that the holy apostle makes concerning that gross sin which reigns so much in the world and brings many to hell, the defilement of the body. He says, “Our bodies are bought with a price” (1 Cor 6:20). “And shall I take the members of Christ, and make them members of an harlot?” (1 Cor 6:15). So when we are tempted by corruption, with Satan joining in, reason like this: “Shall I defile this body of mine? My body is not mine; it is the Lord’s. My members are not mine; they are dedicated and consecrated to him. What should such base, abominable thoughts be doing in a heart consecrated to Christ? I am his, and my thoughts are his; my desires should be his.”

Let those who are given to swearing and blaspheming and idle talk consider that their tongues are not their own. And yet for whom do they employ their tongues as an instrument, but for Satan?

Use 2. So when we come to die, make use of it, not only for comfort, but for duty. “We are Christ’s,” and therefore, if he calls us by any kind of death, if he sends for us by a bloody death, go to Christ that way. For he is Lord, and disposes of whatever befalls us, and determines by what death we shall glorify him. Be of St. Paul’s resolution, to glorify God both living and dying (Phil 1:20 and following). He knew God would be glorified by his death as well as by his life. So we may glorify Christ by any death; let us be content to yield ourselves to him in any way at all.

There are two virtues we ought especially to exercise in the hour of death: assurance of faith that we are Christ’s, and resignation to his will, so that in faith and in obedience we may commit ourselves to him as to a faithful Creator and Redeemer. This is our duty.

And it is no easy matter to do this. Many bequeath themselves to God, but, alas, they have already alienated themselves to the world. They have given their bodies to wine and to women, as the Scripture phrase is (Rev 14:4). Or they have given their spirits to the world, as we commonly say of some men, “They are given to the world.” But when they have given their strength to the flesh beforehand, and then at the time of death bequeath their spirits to the Lord, will he own them? Alas, they were alienated before, and so put out of their own disposal. And therefore ordinarily, unless the Lord works a miracle, it is impossible to die in the Lord if a man has not lived to the Lord before. This may teach us to give ourselves to him in reality in our lifetime, so that, our lives having been a service to Christ, we may die to him with comfort and have our souls to dispose of.

The same subjection must be shown in all conditions whatever. If God will have me honor him in a lowly calling, I am not my own, I am his; my life and my whole condition of life belong to him alone. My calling, my estate, it may be, is low, so that my pride may be humbled. But God has set me in my calling; he will have me honor him in it. In the lowest calling a man shall have enough to give an account of; and therefore there is no reason to be ashamed of our calling. I am the Lord’s in my life, in all its events; in my calling, in all its troubles, I am to look to God for support and protection and provision and direction. I am here by his appointment. And therefore he who has set me in this place will provide for me, protect me, and guide me by his Spirit in what to do in my place. And so it is a ground of contentment in all conditions.

You see, then, there is great reason why we should not live to ourselves but to the Lord, and should not die to ourselves but to the Lord. For it is a great comfort and a special duty. And therefore, in a word, of all divine truths we can have no more comforting experience than this: that God in Christ has made himself over to be ours, and we have made ourselves over to him, if we have grace to do it. And then, to plead it and make use of it when it is done: there is no comfort of wider reach. And therefore the apostle dwells on the point: “No man liveth to himself, no man dieth to himself; but we live to the Lord, and die to the Lord.” To what end is all this, but that we should settle it as a foundation and ground of comfort and contentment and happiness that we are not our own, but the Lord’s?

Think, therefore, of this one thing: that we are his who has command in heaven and earth, to whom all knees bow in subjection; his who is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lord paramount; who will not allow anything to befall his church, or any particular Christian, that shall not be for their good. For he has all power in heaven and earth for that purpose, and forever. What a comfort it is in life and death, in the midst of opposition here or from the powers of hell, that we have a Lord who is commander of all, Lord of life or death. He “hath the keys of hell and death” (Rev 1:18). He himself has conquered all, and he will conquer all in us little by little. What happiness it is, I say, to be under such a Lord!

Sermon 5

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s (Rom 14:7-8).

There is nothing more helpful for living a Christian’s life than to have the eye of the soul on its main end and aim, and then to be furnished with some maxims and principles to direct our lives toward that aim. Where the gifts are most noble and large, there the aim and goal are most excellent. Now a true Christian, being raised above others, has an end and aim above other men. And indeed that is what makes him a Christian in good earnest: when God by his Spirit discloses a higher excellency than the world can afford, and sets our hearts toward it.

Now the apostle sets down the aim of our whole condition, both of life and of death. First, negatively: “No man liveth to himself”; “no man dieth to himself.”

Then, affirmatively: “We live to the Lord, and die to the Lord.”

And he gives the ground of both: “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”

If we live to the Lord, we shall have a being after life. A Christian is, when he is not: when he is not here, he has a being in heaven. And, suited to his several conditions, he has a Lord to own him in all of them. Now he lives, yet he cannot build on life, nor on anything below, because life is short and uncertain. But this he may build on: “Whether he liveth or dieth, he is the Lord’s.”

Now in Scripture Christ is said to be Lord more often than God, because God in the second person has appeared in our nature, overcome all our enemies, triumphed, and is now in heaven in our nature; and because Lord is a word of authority and sovereignty. And God has made him governor of the living and the dead.

He is Lord in regard to God the Father, by donation. God gave the elect to him before all worlds.

He is Lord in regard to himself, by conquest over the enemies of our salvation.

And then he is Lord by ransom. He has paid a price to divine justice for us. For though God gave Christ to us from all eternity, and us to Christ, yet it was on these terms: that he should ransom us. God will not have his justice be a loser; therefore Christ must pay a price to divine justice. Such was his mercy, and the glory of his mercy, to find out such a way to satisfy justice: that God should die.

No attribute of God must be a loser. He must have the honor of all his attributes, and therefore of his justice. And here is the glory of his wisdom, in contriving a way by which mercy may triumph and justice may be satisfied.

And then he is Lord by our voluntary submission to him; for we set a crown upon his head when we subject ourselves to him.

He is our Lord in all estates, living or dying; at all times, without limitation; in all conditions, whether it is a life of prosperity or of adversity, and let us die by whatever kind of death.

And so, as I showed, we are the Lord’s in a double sense: in regard to our conduct toward him, and in regard to his care over us. Both must be included. We are not the Lord’s only in that he takes care of us without our serving him; nor in that we serve him without his caring for us. Rather, he is our Lord in such a way that we have grace to acknowledge him, and he has grace and love and mercy to protect and acknowledge us, both in life and in death.

It is no harm to a Christian’s condition that he belongs to another. It is the happiness of the weak to be under one who is stronger, and of those who are deficient to be under fullness. Now there is all-sufficiency in Christ. Therefore to be under him is our happiness.

Give me leave to illustrate this. Everything is beautiful in its own place. Things that are highest, it is fitting that they should be highest; things that are lowest, it is fitting that they should be lowest. If the head were not in its own place, there would be deformity in the body. And so it is fitting that Christ should be our Lord, being God-man and the glory of our nature. And it is our happiness, our beauty and comeliness, our safety and perfection, to be under Christ, and to be under him alone. He alone is larger than the soul; he lasts as long as the soul; he alone is suited to the soul, being a Spirit; he alone is eternal. And therefore, since he is in every way so abundantly satisfying to the soul, it is the happiness of the soul to have him for its Lord; especially considering what a Lord he is: a Lord independent, Lord of lords, who has all other lords at his command, a bountiful and gracious Lord.

And we are the Lord’s not only while we live, but when we come to die. Therefore we should be willing to die when our time comes, yes, to die any kind of death, because he is Lord of “quick and dead.” We should be like David and Moses, who were very fruitful toward their ends. And as we are not ashamed to live to so good a Lord, so we should not be afraid to die to him, as one said of himself.

This word Lord implies that there are some duties owed by us. We are the Lord’s in our souls, in our bodies, in our conditions. And therefore we should wholly give ourselves up to him, and entertain no thoughts that dishonor him; give way to no stirrings, no desires that are unbecoming to the subjects and servants of the Lord; believe nothing that we take up of ourselves; keep the chastity of our faith and understanding, so as not to believe lies and untruths; but submit our very understandings and faith to God. We must not be servants of men in our judgments or souls, not “a slave to another’s desires,” as the philosopher says. But let us consider what Christ has revealed, and submit to that.

And therefore it is a grand error in the Church of Rome, which would have people believe as the church believes. This is the first lie, which leads them into all those errors: to believe Christ and Scripture no further than the church discloses them. And so they overturn everything, for they believe God because men say so. It is a dangerous error that runs into practice. By their reasoning, if the church says treason must be done, we must be traitors, and it is no matter what the Scripture says; the pope is the head of the church, and he can dispense with whatever he pleases. But “my sheep,” says Christ, “hear my voice” (John 10:27). And it is our duty to hear what the Lord of our faith says, which is only Christ. If he is our Lord, then let our wills be brought into subjection to his will; nothing is more out of order than this will of ours. If that were once subject to Christ, all controversy between God and us would be taken away. The whole strife is over whether we shall have our wills or he shall have his. The spouse has no will of her own; it is resigned to her husband. So we must submit our wills to Christ’s desire.

And then again, we ought not in anything to regard the humors of men. Christ is Lord of our affections. We must hate what he would have us hate, and love what he loves; our whole souls must be conformed to Christ.

And our bodies are wholly his too, and therefore we must be content that our bodies should be used as they used his body. He gave his body for us. He took our nature, and in that nature went about doing good and suffering hardship. He was hungry and thirsty; he was crucified in our nature and suffered in our nature. So we too should be content for our natures to be used as he would have them: to take great pains in doing good, and to suffer hunger, thirst, restraint, yes, death itself for Christ, because we are Christ’s! It is no more than he did for us. Being our Lord, he was abased for us in his blessed body and flesh; and shall we not, then, suffer for him?

So our conditions are his. Let him therefore cut out our portion for us and allot us any condition.

The word implies more particularly an application to ourselves: “We are the Lord’s, and the Lord is ours.”

And likewise a renunciation and severing from all others: “We are the Lord’s, and no one else’s”; the Lord’s, and none but the Lord’s. If we belong to anybody else, it is in the Lord and for the Lord.

Here is likewise resignation. “We are the Lord’s,” and therefore we will give ourselves up to him, resting in him, esteeming him highly, and glorying in our condition through him.

And then an improvement of this is implied here. We are the Lord’s; therefore we ought to put it to use: on our part, by serving him; and on his part, by believing that he will take care of us.

We are the Lord’s, first, by particular application, which is worked in us by degrees.

First, God by his Spirit reveals himself to be ours, not fully, but by letting so much light into the soul as may carry the soul to him, and make us yield to him, trust in him, and cast ourselves upon him. By doing so we grow into further acquaintance with him, and he honors our faith with a further sense and assurance that he is ours and we are his.

There is a great deal of distance and breadth between the first act of faith, by which we cast ourselves on Christ, and a confident persuasion that Christ is ours and we are his. That persuasion is a fruit of faith, and a great deal of growth is needed before we come to it.

And therefore, if you ask, “What does the soul do first to make Christ its own?” it is this. In the use of means, through which God is pleased to work effectually, a light is let into the soul by the Spirit, by which the heart is persuaded that he has a good meaning toward it, that he is a gracious Lord, and that he will forgive the sins of all who rely upon him. And with the acknowledging of these truths, together with the offer of mercy in Christ, so much sweetness is let into the soul that it carries the soul back again to Christ to rest upon him. For unless Christ begins in some degree to make love to the soul and gives it a taste of his sweetness, we cannot rely upon him or love him. This is not only because we are creatures, and he is first and must begin with us. It is also because it is the nature of a guilty soul, when it is under terror and awakened, to forecast such doubts that until Christ lets in some glimpse of his love, the soul dare not look Christ in the face.

Now in the unfolding of these divine truths of the gospel, some intimations are given “that Christ is mine, and I am Christ’s,” which afterward becomes the claim of an experienced Christian. This therefore shows those who lack Christ what course they should take to get him. They must attend upon the blessed means of salvation, and then consider how far they may lay claim to Christ.

For, first, all who live in the church are Christ’s in some degree. God has gone before men with his love in admitting them to the visible church. There is an obligation on them to think well of Christ for that, because he cared for them before they cared for themselves, by granting them the seal of baptism and making them members of the visible church.

Secondly, unless they labor, once they have come to years of discretion, to feel a further assurance that Christ is theirs, they annul and deny their baptism. And therefore it is good for souls who are touched with a sight of sin to gather upon Christ, and to wind every help they can find around him to work their way onto Christ, as the vine gathers upon the tree it winds about: “I was born in the church. I have been baptized, I have lived in times of the gospel, and I have had opportunities to hear the blessed truths. Therefore I will have good thoughts of Christ, that he means well to my soul.”

Indeed, a crowd of wretches who rest in their baptism, though they are profane swearers, vile persons, and abusers of their calling or of anything else, can say, “Are we not baptized? And do we not come to church?” But they forget that this is an obligation on them to be good, and no excuse for them to be evil. It binds you to renounce what you live in; otherwise you deny your baptism.

We must know, beloved, that Christ did not love us as we love a fine pillar or some other curious piece of art that cannot love us back. The dealings between God and man are mutual. If he says he is ours, we say in return, “I am yours, Lord, and I give myself to you”; and so the claim is mutual. He claims us as his, and we claim him as ours, for he deals with reasonable creatures who can enter into covenant with him as friends. We must therefore give up all to God. If God is God, let us own him. And as we cannot serve Christ and sin, so we cannot serve Christ and antichrist; we cannot comply with Christ and his enemies. Those who have the mark of the beast absolutely cannot be Christ’s or have communion with him, but are enemies to Christ, though under a pretense of religion. But where a man is truly Christ’s, he is none but Christ’s. Satan is content with any part, but Christ must have the whole heart.

God’s children have something in them that usurps, some corruption that is not absolutely removed; but it is only a rebel, and they have an enemy’s mind toward it. All that is contrary to Christ is renounced. In those who are carnal, sin is like a lord; but in God’s children it is like a thief. He is there, yet they do not own him, but gather strength against him. He does not rule there except as a tyrant. There is a renunciation of the lordship and dominion of sin. Though they have inclinations to this and that sin, yet they have no liking for that liking. As they are spiritual, they have no inclination toward that inclination as it is carnal, but make it an object of mortification. They renounce all other lords, whereas all other men, who do not have the Spirit of Christ, are under the dominion of some reigning lust.

And as it implies a possession, so likewise an esteem: as God esteems us, so we esteem him above all. And therefore God calls his church his portion, his jewel; and we call Christ our portion, our treasure, our pearl, our all. St. Paul counts all dung and dross in comparison of the excellent knowledge of Christ (Phil 3:8). And he esteems everything that belongs to Christ. And therefore the church glories that God is their God, and lays claim to him, as St. Paul does: “I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). And as Thomas does: “My Lord, and my God” (John 20:28). This is the best evidence of a true Christian, whose state is known no better way than by what he esteems. “Whom have I in heaven but thee, or in earth in comparison of thee?” says David (Ps 73:25).

It likewise implies a duty of resignation to Christ in life and death, because we are not our own, and therefore are in all things to be at his disposal. We are to be led whatever way he pleases and to pursue his directions, though it crosses our corrupt nature. We are to be content to go to heaven as he will lead us, by fair ways or foul, by a fair death or a bloody death, “if by any means we may attain to the resurrection of the dead,” as St. Paul says (Phil 3:11).

Besides this, we must take care to plead this and to put it to use, as the apostle does here: “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” He will take care of us, and therefore we ought to serve him.

It is a special attainment, coming afterward, to be able to make this good to God in all troubles and conditions whatever: “I am yours, Lord, save me; I am yours, Lord, teach me; I am yours, Lord, protect me.”

Avow it and make it good against the temptations of Satan when he urges you to distrust: “I am not my own; I am God’s and Christ’s. Therefore, if you have anything to say to me, go to him who has paid my debt.” In this way plead the goodness and graciousness of God.

Plead it against temptation to sin: “I am not my own; ‘I am bought with a price’ (1 Cor 6:20). My body is not for uncleanness, but for the Lord.”

Plead it against our own consciences in times of desertion. Search narrowly to see what we have of Christ’s in us, and do not cavil against ourselves too much in times of temptation. If we have only desires of the soul toward God, let us not lose anything that is good. If I renounce my interest in Christ, I am where the devil would have me; then he can do anything with us. And therefore plead it against our own distrustful hearts in times of darkness: “I give myself to him, and my desires are toward him. My faith is little, but yet it is something; my love is little, but yet I love the Lord. ‘I believe, help my unbelief’ (Mark 9:24).” We must take notice of anything Christ has worked in our spirits, so that we may plead our interest on all occasions; for if we yield to despairing hearts in times of temptation, we are gone. Therefore say with Job, “If thou kill me, I will trust thee” (Job 13:15). Lie at Christ’s feet: “If you will damn me, so be it; I will lie here and wait here. For if I do not have a hearing now, I shall have one.” God waits to do good to those who wait for him. He will try our spirits, to see whether we will take a seeming repulse. Therefore we must, like the woman of Canaan, cling closer to Christ and catch at his words (Matt 15); and do as the servants of Benhadad did, who answered Ahab back at once, “Thy brother Benhadad” (1 Kgs 20:33).

And as we must plead our interest, so we must put it to use in the whole course of our life and in all conditions whatever. If we have any losses or crosses, still the soul can say, “Christ is mine, and I am Christ’s.” Though a man on a journey loses things of less value, yet if he still has a pearl, he is content, for he has what will still make his fortune. And therefore do not be very disconsolate over any crosses: “They cannot take away my Christ, my promises, the comforts of the Spirit. I have Christ, and in him all that shall be for my good.”

Put it to use against all the opposition of flesh and blood, hell and the instruments of hell, Satan and wicked men: “They are my enemies; but if Christ is my friend, it does not matter.” Christ can make our enemies our friends.

And all things are ours if we are Christ’s. We have a general charter. Things to come are ours, life is ours, death is ours. And therefore, if we are Christ’s, let us make use of him.

As it is baseness of spirit to rest in anything in the world but Christ, so it is baseness of spirit for us who are Christ’s to be dejected over anything in the world. We have the treasure; we have the mine. We have the sun; what if we lose a beam? We have a spring; what if the stream dries up? If Christ gives us himself, it does not matter what we lose. And we are sure of him, for in life and death we are the Lord’s.

And therefore let us answer all objections from this. Oh, that we should have such grounds of comfort and stability, and yet make no more use of them! If these things were fresh in our thoughts, nothing would discourage us.

Question. If you ask, “How shall we know in particular that it is truly so, that we are Christ’s?”

Answer. 1. We are his if we have given ourselves to him by a contract of our own, if we are married to him. You know marriage must have the consent of both parties. Those who do not give themselves up to Christ to be his are not his. Those who live under the power of any sin against conscience as their lord, who love anything better than Christ and will not part with it for Christ’s sake: Christ is not theirs, for they are engaged another way.

2. Again, if we live to Christ, we are sure we are his; if we do not live to Christ, we are not his. If Christ is ours, then just as the life we live is his, so our course of living will be toward him. We shall direct all our courses to him, making him our last end. And therefore, if we want to know whether we are Christ’s, what is the scope of our lives? What is our aim? If it is that Christ may be glorified by me, and for that I am content to part with anything, even with life itself, I may know that I am Christ’s. “He that will not deny all, that hateth not father and mother for my sake, is not worthy of me” (Matt 10:37). Self-denial, and hatred of all things in comparison with Christ, shows an interest in him. Therefore it takes a great deal of grace, and the soul must be much subdued, before it can say, “I am Christ’s, and Christ is mine.”

For when sin and the other things that draw us away from Christ are to be forsaken, first there is much ado in the understanding: “Do I have reason to do this?” Well, if my judgment says it is good, yet my will says it is better to have my own will than to yield to God, though I risk my own ruin. Oh, this is a fatal, wicked disposition, and a sign of ruin; yet the reputed happiness of many men consists in their chief misery.

Again, when good things first come to the judgment, they are repulsed there. But if they come to the will, they are opposed even more there. And then the affections make a stir and bustle, love and hatred and entanglements with worldly things, all to hinder our claim and interest in Christ. But Christ must be set up in the place of self-love before a man can say, “Christ is mine, and I am Christ’s,” and that is a hard matter. Therefore let us consider what our aim and scope is.

In a word, if we are Christ’s, we will undoubtedly side with Christ. “Who is on my side? who?” says Jehu (2 Kgs 9:32). In evil and doubtful times Christ calls for a party, and calls out, “Where is my party? Who stands for me? Who owns Christ and his truth and doctrine and good ways, honesty and religion? Who is on my side?” says Christ. Why, I am for the Lord, as in the prophet Isaiah, says the soul that can own Christ. Yes, Christ will own us, and we shall own him; if we are ashamed of him, he will be ashamed of us at the day of judgment.

Consider those who, in hope of preferment and of being somebody in the world, can cross their own consciences, and Christ in their consciences, by doing what he tells them by his Spirit is wicked. Are they Christ’s, when they set up self as an idol above Christ, and side with the world and the flesh against Christ?

Again, whoever can say in truth of heart that Christ is his and he is Christ’s will solace himself, delight himself, and live upon this comfort. It is a rich claim, and where there is this interest there will be spiritual wisdom to plead it and put it to use. It is not given to lie dormant; grace is given with it to put it to use and to live upon it. All that is Christ’s will please the one who has Christ. His truth is sweet to him. The Lord’s day, the Lord’s work, the Lord’s servants, the Lord’s ordinances, whatever bears the stamp of the Lord, is sweet to him, because he is the Lord’s and the Lord is his.

This is contrary to the disposition of that generation that can cunningly despise persons and causes if they see anything in them opposed to their own base courses and lusts.

But above all, where Christ is truly any man’s, the Spirit of Christ is in that man’s heart, a witnessing Spirit and a sanctifying Spirit. The Spirit will witness an interest, and will fit and sanctify the soul as a gracious vessel for Christ’s service here and for glory hereafter. And though the Spirit may not witness so loudly that he is Christ’s, yet he may know by the work of the Spirit that Christ is his. For the Spirit shapes him to a disposition naturally suited to Christ and to all that is Christ’s. Such people love his ways and government. A gracious man would not be under any other government than Christ’s if he were to choose. He has made his choice indeed; but if he were to choose, he would have Christ’s government, because he finds a sweetness in it and a fitness to its dignity. A man never finds himself more himself than when he is most gracious.

Carnal men, though they submit to outward means, still cast away the bond of Christ; they cannot endure the yoke. But those who are Christ’s have a disposition naturally suited to the government of Christ. And they complain to Christ about other lords: “Other lords rule me” (Isa 26:13). “This lust reigns in me; Lord, subdue it. Claim your own interest; let nothing rule in me but your Spirit. I am weary of my inclinations to this and that lust.” And so a conflict is always maintained.

To stir us up, in a word, to labor to be more under the government of Christ and to get assurance of it, let us consider: if we are not Christ’s, whose are we? There are only two kingdoms. If Christ does not rule us, the devil and the world must rule us.

And what kind of subjection is it to be subject to our own lusts, to a damned world, and to Satan? Is it not to be ruled by our enemies, and base enemies? Our lusts are baser than the devil himself, for the devil is a substance, and rules by them. Now who would be willing to serve an enemy? No, more than that: to be a servant of servants, to be under these tyrannical enemies, restless enemies, that encroach upon us more and more? And all the fruit we have from their service is shame and grief at best; and shall we serve those who will pay no better wages? Yet this is the condition of all who do not have Christ for their Lord. They serve some base lust, and Satan, a tyrannical lord, who instead of better rewards punishes them with eternal destruction; so they serve him at the price of their own souls.

I beg you, consider it seriously, and put this question to your souls: “I have lived in such and such a sin, but what is the fruit of it?” The best is shame. If I am not ashamed here, it will end in eternal shame. So it is a sweet thing to be under the government of Christ. It is a dominion for our good.

And lest we should be discouraged, beware of all temptations that draw us away from love of Christ’s government, because our nature is opposed to this yoke. If they seize upon us, we shall be great losers by them, in our reputation and in much of the comfort we might otherwise have gained.

Beloved, you will lose nothing by Christ. What we lose for his sake we shall gain in peace of conscience, in grace, and in this world too, if he sees it good. No man ever lost by the service of Christ. Let a man lay the beginning and the end together, and tell me whether he has gained anything by serving his lusts. For God pays him back in full here, in much terror of conscience, and in crosses and losses at the end, besides hell hereafter, though at first he may enjoy some seeming comfort.

And therefore lay it down as a principle that God’s service is the best and most profitable service.

Objection. Yes, but to the eyes of the world it appears that those who stick close to Christ, and will disclaim everything for a good conscience, fall into this and that misery.

Answer. 1. The reason is that they are not good enough. It may be that they are negligent in the service of Christ, and therefore God will purge them and make them better, and will try their graces, so that they may know themselves better.

2. One main end, indeed, is this: Christ will let his own be exercised with this and that affliction so that he may have glory in his servants, so that the world may see he has some who are content to lose something for his sake, who will part with anything and break with any man so that they may please the Lord.

3. If we serve Christ, he will speak to our consciences that it is not in vain to serve him, however things fall out in the world. I confess there is a mystery in Christ’s government which we must take notice of. We can give no reason why his enemies should reign so, and his church be kept under hatches. Only in general we know that all this, in the end, shall serve for the church’s good. “And all shall work for the best to them that love God” (Rom 8:28). All this while God is working the church’s good and the enemies’ ruin, though we do not see the mystery of Christ’s kingdom.

I beg you, labor to make good use of this. Get under Christ’s government. And when flesh and blood put up a petition or suggest anything, vote it down; deny the petition. Say, “I am Christ’s, and I owe nothing to anyone but Christ; therefore I owe nothing to sin or to myself. All my debt is to the Spirit and to Christ. Therefore I will ‘sow to the Spirit, not to the flesh’ (Gal 6:8). ‘I am bought with a price’ (1 Cor 6:20). My liberty cost Christ dearly; therefore I will die honorably rather than prostitute myself to any base courses.” Thus we should have high thoughts of ourselves. And upon every temptation suggested to us, let us make use of this consideration: that we are not our own, but Christ’s.

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly: Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Rev 22:20).

The church of God is the weakest and most helpless part of mankind, and it is never without trouble in this world; yet God would never have it be without comfort. That is why God reveals to Christ in this book, and Christ to the angel, and the angel to John, things to come, from the ascension of Christ to his second coming. He does this so that in every condition of the church, the church might turn to this book to see what the outcome of everything will be. This is their comfort: however things may be carried on in this world in seeming confusion, in a cloud, and in a mystery, yet in the end all will turn out well on the church’s side. Their trouble will end in peace, their abasement in glory, and their conflict in a crown.

We may see this verified here. This Revelation ends with the description of the glorious condition of the church. In the last two chapters, as I take it, the evangelist St. John sets down the glorious estate of the church of God, even in this world, yet in such a way that it will end and be consummated in perfect glory in the world to come. For the soul of a Christian, like Noah’s dove, cannot rest in any glory here until it returns to the ark, until it comes to the enjoyment of perfect glory and has blissful communion with Christ forever and ever in heaven. And therefore Christ brings the sweetness of his promises to their end and goal in heaven, and at his last coming; and the church likewise stretches and raises up her desires to that. Though there will be glorious times and things here, they are only like the first fruits to the whole harvest, and like a drop to the ocean. Therefore, when you read of a glorious estate of the church here on earth, your minds must turn to the upshot and consummation of all in heaven. The Jerusalem that is from above must lead us to the Jerusalem that is above.

Now, man’s unbelieving heart is all too prone to think these things too good to be true and too great to be performed, since he sees such an immeasurable disproportion between his own unworthiness and the excellence of the things promised. So the mercy of our blessed Savior is such that he confirms this second glorious coming of his by every kind of witness there can be. Here is the angel (Rev 22:6); Christ himself (Rev 22:7); the spouse, and the Spirit in the spouse (Rev 22:17); and Christ himself again in the words before the text, “Behold, I come quickly.” Then you have the spouse’s answer: “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

Beloved, faith is a supernatural thing. It has no friend within us. It has no help, no cause in the world, except God himself. Therefore it needs every confirmation. God knows us and our needs better than we know ourselves, and you see that he uses confirmation to help our unbelief. And besides the witnesses, the thing itself is repeated again and again, three or four times in this chapter (Rev 22:7, 12, 20): “Behold, I come quickly,” and “Behold, I come quickly,” and “Surely I come quickly.” By every repetition Christ seeks to gain ground on our misgiving souls: “Behold, I come.” For our spirit is exceedingly short, and we are ready to cry out, as it is in the sixth chapter of this book, “How long, Lord, holy and true?” (Rev 6:10). How long? Why, he answers, “Behold, I come quickly.”

You will also find in the prophecies of the Old Testament the same promises delivered and repeated again and again, because of our unbelief. That unbelief arises from an inward guilt that clings to our consciences, because we are subject to failings and are not as strict as we should be. But such is the yearning compassion of our blessed Savior that it grieves him to see his tender church afflicted and troubled in mind. Therefore he helps all he can.

Note. Observe, then, I beg you, the sweet interchange in these words between Christ and his spouse. Christ promises again and again, “Behold, I come quickly”; and the church says, “Come”; “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” There is no interchange in the world as sweet as that between Christ and his church.

But we will come to the words themselves: “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” In these words you have, first, the assent of the church; and secondly, her consent. Her assent is to the truth; her consent is to the goodness of the truth. “Amen”: it is so. More than that, “Amen”: it shall be so. More still, “Amen”: be it so, or, let it be so. There is a wishing included in it. All these are worked by the Spirit. The Spirit convinces us both of the truth and of the goodness of the truth. And besides that, in the next words the same Spirit stirs up a desire and a prayer: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Holy desires are turned into fervent prayers.

Note. “Amen” is a short word, but marvelously pregnant, full of sense, full of spirit. It is a word that seals all the truths of God, that seals every particular promise of God. And it is never likely to arise in the soul unless there is first an almighty power from heaven to seize on the powers of the soul, subdue them, and make it say, “Amen.” There is such an inward rising of the heart, such an inborn rebellion against the blessed truth of God, that unless God brings the heart down by his strong arm, it never will or can say, “Amen.”

Note. But now the heart will not be penned in or restrained. The Spirit is an enlarging thing. And so, besides “Amen” (though “Amen” includes what follows), the spirit breaks out and says, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

A little about “Amen.” Christ is said, in the beginning of this book, to be “Amen, the true and faithful witness” (Rev 3:14). And all the promises are said to be, in Christ Jesus, “yea and amen” (2 Cor 1:20). That is, they are made for his sake and performed for his sake; they are made in him and for him, and they are performed in him and for him. And when “Amen,” that is, Christ himself, says his “Amen” to anything, is it so much for us to give our “Amen”?

The point I mean to raise out of this word “Amen” is this:

Doctrine 1. The hearts of the children of God are pliable to divine truths, yielding to the whole word of God, and especially to the good word of God, that is, the promises; and of all promises, to the promise of promises, the second coming of Christ.

They say “Amen” to that, and for these reasons.

Reason 1. Because there is a suitableness of disposition, a kind of natural kinship, between a sanctified heart and sanctified truths, between a holy heart and holy things. So much so that if a holy truth never heard before is heard by a holy heart, it will yield immediate assent; for that person’s heart is so subdued that he has an “Amen” for it at once.

Reason 2. There is a sweet relish in all divine truths; and answering to the sweetness in them, there is a spiritual taste that the Spirit of God puts into the souls of his children. However much sweetness there is in things, if there is no suitable taste, there is no relish in them. Therefore the Spirit of God, in his children, works a taste of the sweetness that is in the word of God. And that is a main reason why they say “Amen,” especially to comforting truths.

Reason 3. Again, when the soul is once betrothed to God, it has no will of its own, but yields up its will to God’s will. The spouse has no will of her own; her husband’s will is her will. So if Christ says, “Amen, I come quickly,” the spouse of Christ says “Amen” too.

Reason 4. God deals with his children, likewise, by way of a covenant and a marriage contract. And above all other covenants, the covenant of a marriage contract is the sweetest. Now in such a contract there must be consent on our part; and that is why the Spirit always stirs up an “Amen” on our part too. When he says “Amen” (it shall be so), then the soul says, “Amen, Lord; let it be so.” As in ordinary marriage there is a contract, so it is here in the spiritual marriage; and since there is a contract, there is also an assent to the second coming of Christ. The betrothed spouse must say “Amen” to the wedding day.

Reason 5. Lastly, the Spirit of God, in the hearts of his children, stirs up in them this “Amen” as a seal of their effectual calling. If you ask me what effectual calling is, I answer that it is nothing other than the heart’s echo and answer to God’s speech. God calls, and we answer. St. Peter calls this “the answer of a good conscience” (1 Pet 3:21). There must be in the soul the answer of a good conscience to all divine truths. Do you believe? I do believe. Do you repent? I do repent. “Seek ye my face. Thy face, Lord, will I seek” (Ps 27:8). “Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God” (Jer 3:22). Unless there is this answer of a good conscience, there is no effectual calling. Our calling is effectual when the Spirit stirs up an answer to it in the heart. So you see there must be an “Amen” worked in the hearts of the children of God.

Use 1. Beloved, if this is so, I beg you, if we find any stubbornness or resistance in our souls to divine truths, let us beg of God the performance of the covenant of grace: “Lord, you have promised soft and feeling hearts of flesh, tender and yielding affections. Oh, grant them now, and work them in us.”

Note. For, beloved, you must know this: though God deals with us by way of covenant, yet when he comes to perform the covenant, he works, in a sense, both our part and his own. In effect he makes a testament, not a covenant. In a testament we bequeath; we do not bargain and set conditions. So although God deals with his people by way of covenant (if you repent, if you believe, if you obey), yet the grace he bestows he gives by way of testament. Therefore beg of God that, as he requires this condition, that we assent to his word and be pliable to it, so he would make his covenant a testament and a will. I mean, that he would effectually work it in us and make us do it. This should be our desire of God, and all the more so for these reasons.

Motive 1. First, because God honors us by it, in seeking our consent. Is it not a great honor to us that he will not perform things without our consent? For indeed he will not accomplish the work of our everlasting salvation without it. But then, if we set our seal to God’s seal and once consent, we bind God himself. When he seals to us, and we to him, we bind God Almighty, and by that power of faith we subdue hell and all the enemies who oppose us. When we seal to the truth of God and cry “Amen,” it is a word that fills heaven and earth. There is no more joyful word in the world than when whole congregations can say and shout “Amen.” When God says “Amen” in heaven, if we can at once say “Amen” to his truth on earth, he will say “Amen” to our salvation. Thus God honors us by it, when he comes for our consent.

Motive 2. We in turn honor God by sealing to his truth. Faith is what seals to God’s truth, and “Amen” is the very voice of faith.

Use 2. It is a pitiful thing, but common in the world, that God should have no more credit with us. Poor distressed souls will say “Amen” to the lies of their own hearts, and presumptuous people will say “Amen” to a liar, to a murderer, to an enemy, to Satan. But God has so little credit with us that if he commands, we will not say “Amen”; if he promises, we have no “Amen” for him; if he threatens, we bless ourselves and say, “We’ll do well enough”: “We shall have peace, though we walk after the imagination of our own hearts, adding drunkenness unto thirst” (Deut 29:19). When the Spirit of God says he will stir up a fire in his anger, and his wrath shall burn unto the lowest hell (Deut 32:22), against all who go on in their sinful courses, they still flatter themselves.

Well, beloved, we may shake off God’s word in the ministry, as profane people do; but when God comes to carry out his threatenings, then his wrath will burn to hell and not be quenched. Who can avoid or endure that dreadful sentence, “Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41)? God’s words are not mere wind. Or if they are, they are a wind that will blow all impenitent sinners down to hell. We must have a legal “Amen” to the threatenings of God, as well as a gospel “Amen” to the sweet promises. St. John here, by the Spirit of God, says “Amen” to the promises of the time to come: namely, for the overthrow of antichrist, for the conversion of the Jews, and for the glorious times to come, though he sees no evidence of them at present. And so must we say “Amen” to all divine truths.

But there is another kind and company of people who must be rebuked. They have indeed an “amen” and a seal, but they set it to a blank. They are presumptuous people, and, what is worse, such as will have God say “Amen” to their own courses. They will be wicked and sinful, and then study and strive to bend God’s word to suit their own bow; and so in their lying imagination they make God say “Amen” to their lusts. They do not count it enough to have their own will; they will have God be of their mind too. And they will always find some daubers who will say, “Go on and prosper.”

An Ahab will always have his false prophets. What a wicked thing this is, that we should make an idol of God and transform him into the likeness of Satan, his enemy, making him like the very thing he hates most! We will continue in our sinful courses and act as though we had the word of God on our side. “Oh,” we say, “we have the judgment of this man and that man,” and so we prop ourselves up by building on such sandy foundations. When we should bring our souls up and resign them to God and his Spirit, we bring God down to our own bent and make him say this and that, agreeable to our carnal reason and corrupt affections.

But I must not enlarge on this. In a word, then, to conclude this point: as there is a sweet harmony in God’s truth, so let there be a harmony in our hearts with it. God’s truth always agrees with itself; oh, let our hearts agree with it. When we hear a threatening, a precept, or a promise, oh, let us say, “Amen.” It is the sweetest harmony in the world when we can bring our hearts to close with God and his word, with his Spirit and truth, when we can be delivered “into that form of doctrine which is delivered unto us” (Rom 6:17).

But now I go on: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” We come from the assent to the consent, yielding to what Christ said as true and good. We come to the desire and prayer of the church: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

Note. “Amen” is a Hebrew word, and it is still retained to show the agreement of the Christian church with the Jewish church, both with what was before and with what will be afterward. And it is expressed and opened here by a word that follows, “yea,” or “even so”: come, Lord Jesus. You see the church desires, and out of her desire she prays, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

Now this desire of the church shows the gracious disposition of the church. These desires are the breathings and motions of the Spirit in the soul, tending toward further union. Just as motion tends to rest, so desires tend to union with the thing desired. The church’s desires here are the immediate issue of the soul, and therefore undissembled, and they show the true character of a Christian soul. We may dissemble in our words and actions, but we cannot dissemble our desires and affections. We may paint fire, but we cannot paint heat. Therefore God judges us more by our desires and affections than by our words and actions.

Now you may know that our desires are holy and good if they are heavenly; for then it is a sign that they come down from heaven, just as a spring will rise and climb as high as the spring-head from which it comes. If our desires rise to heaven, as the church’s do here, it is a sign that they came down from heaven.

Our desires are like a stream, as I will show you by following out that metaphor and comparison in several particulars.

1. A good stream has a good spring; so must our desires. The spring of the church’s desires here is love. She loves Christ, and therefore she desires him to “come quickly.”

2. A stream, you know, carries everything before it; so our desires are a holy stream issuing from a good spring and carrying everything before them. They are effectual, not a mere “velleity,” as they call it, a bare wishing and would-ing.

3. A stream, if it is stopped, will swell until it breaks down all opposition and carries everything before it; so let a good desire be stopped, and it will swell more and more and grow bigger and bigger until it makes a way for itself.

4. A stream is restless and unceasing until it meets the ocean and empties itself into the sea; so true and holy desires are restless and always in motion. They are not like a standing pool that rests. They keep moving until they have emptied themselves into the boundless and bottomless ocean of endless pleasure.

5. Just as true streams that rise from a fountain grow bigger and bigger the nearer they come to the ocean, because other rivers join them and so they gain advantage and increase from other streams that run into them, so, if our desires are true, they are growing desires. They keep increasing, bigger and bigger, until they come to heaven.

6. At length we see the streams empty themselves into the sea. There they are swallowed up, and there they have a more constant being than they had in themselves, namely, the being of the ocean, the true element and proper place of all waters. So with our desires: if they are holy, then as they are restless and growing, so at last they empty themselves into Christ and join with God and happiness in the time to come. For there is greater happiness for the souls of men in God, in Christ, and in heaven than there is in themselves; and there they are swallowed up.

7. Lastly, we may test our desires by this. Mists in a low place show that there is a spring there. You know that springs are found where the mists constantly gather most. So where there are breathings of the soul upward, as there are here in the church, surely there is a spring of love that yields these mists and from which these desires flow.

But I come more particularly to this particular desire of the church, “Come, Lord Jesus.” I will make way for it by some propositions that I will lay down first, before I come to the main thing I intend to dwell on at this time.

First, we must take this for granted:

Observation 1. There will be a second glorious coming of Christ, far more glorious than the first.

The best times and things are yet to come for Christians, in every way. Every day they rise, they are nearer to their happiness.

Again, we must know this:

Observation 2. A Christian who has true faith in the times to come will have desires that answer to it, and prayers that correspond.

For, beloved, there is always a harmony between the heart and the brain, between the understanding and the will and affections. What we assent to as true, and consent to as good, we will both desire and pray for. Therefore, if you know there will be a glorious coming of Christ, and if you assent that the best times are yet to come, surely this prayer will be there too. There is always a sweet agreement and harmony between a sound, convinced knowledge and gracious affections. That is why, in Scripture, we are said not to know what we do not desire and love. When we do not know things in such a way as to love them, we do not see them in their proper light; we have received them only by tradition and from others. But when we see things with their proper light, spiritual things with a spiritual light, there will always be prayers and desires to match. So it is with the church here: after “Amen, even so,” there is the desire; “Come, Lord Jesus,” there is her prayer.

And therefore we may know whether our knowledge is spiritual or not by this: whether the heart is subdued to yield to it. Otherwise the heart will swell when it comes to petition and to particular truths. “What! Shall I yield to this? No. I have heard of this by the hearing of the ear, but I do not know whether it is true or not. I have heard much talk of the Scriptures.” But when Scripture comes to cross a man in this or that particular lust, then, if his knowledge is not spiritual, his heart will rise and swell against it, and begin to call it into question and doubt it. Yes, he will think it folly and a base thing for a man to yield to it. “I am sure of my pleasures, I am sure of my profits, but I am not sure whether this is true or not.” And so the heart of an atheist comes to hold out, because his knowledge is not spiritual. But if it is spiritual, it carries an assent with it, and a desire drawn out into a prayer.

Again, you must know this before we come to the main point:

Observation 3. A gracious heart turns promises into desires and prayers.

The promise was, “I come quickly.” Here faith clasps the promise, as a vine clasps the elm, and says, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Faith at once turns the promise into a suit. No sooner had Christ said, “I come quickly,” than the spirit of faith says, “Yes, come, Lord Jesus.” But then we must be sure that we have a promise out of the word of God. Faith has no “amen” for the word of a man, or for anything else but the word of God. And when it fastens on that, as it does here, you see it turns it into a holy desire and prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus.”

Beloved, we do not believe the promise as we should; otherwise we would do this. We have rich, “exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Pet 1:4); but where is our rich, exceedingly great and precious faith to lay hold of them and turn them at once into suits, desires, and prayers? If we would do this, we would bind God with his own word. He cannot deny himself or falsify his truth.

Observation 4. You see again that the more assured someone is of anything, the more effectually it will make him pray.

An atheistic heart would say this: “Such a thing will happen; Christ will come whether I pray or not; what need is there for me to pray, then?” No, rather pray for this very reason, because he will come. “I come quickly”; therefore, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Christ himself was fully assured that his Father would grant him all he prayed for. “I know that thou hearest me always,” he says (John 11:42); yet you see what a heavenly prayer he makes in John 17. More than that, God bids him do it: “Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance” (Ps 2:8). Christ himself must ask before God will give him “the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.”

So also in Ezek 36, where you have the covenant of grace itself with many promises attending it. To all of them is added, “Yet for all these things will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, saith the Lord” (Ezek 36:37). Though he had made great promises to his church, yet he must be prayed to for their performance. He will have things received as fruits of our prayer, as well as of his promise and providence. We cannot be as thankful for things that come only as fruits of his providence as when we look on them as fruits of our prayers. David was a king won by prayers; but Saul came only by providence, and by the people’s importunity. Which of them was the more blessed?

Oh then, my brothers and sisters, however fully assured we are of things to come, let us still join prayer to that assurance. For the assurance of the end will stir us up to the careful use of the means. None are so careful of the means as those who are most assured of the end. The church here is witness to it.

The next thing I will lay down first, as making way for what I mean to speak of more fully, is this:

Observation 5. God’s promises have gradual performances.

They are made good by degrees. God goes by many steps to the performance of his great promises, as here the promise of Christ’s second glorious coming has many degrees to its accomplishment. So God promises “a new heaven and a new earth” (Isa 66:22). One degree of its performance was when the Jews came out of captivity. It had a second degree of performance when Christ came in the flesh. Then all things were new: there was a new priest, a new Sabbath, a new nation. Then when the Gentiles were called and came in, it had a third gradual performance. When the Jews are called, when there will be a resurrection from the dead, as it were (Rom 11:15), then all things will be new. That is a fourth. And the last and full performance will be when all things are new indeed, that is, when there will be “a new heaven and a new earth.”

So this promise here, “Come, Lord Jesus,” has a latitude and breadth of performance. “Come, Lord,” into our hearts first, and set up your kingdom and scepter there; subdue everything there to yourself, throw down all lusts, thrust out Satan, take your own rightful interest in us.

And then “come” into your church, as you have it in Mark 9:1. There is a powerful coming of Christ in the gospel; in it “the kingdom of God comes with power.” Come in this way in the ministry of your word. When Christ was bodily ascending into heaven, he came spiritually in his ordinances. And so “come” by your Spirit.

And then “come” to blast antichrist and consume “that man of sin” (2 Thess 2:3), and so make way for the other degree of your coming. “Come” in the fullness of the Gentiles; “come” in the conversion of your people the Jews, that their riches may be an increase of our riches, that there may be golden times indeed, as surely there will be then.

And then, because there is a certain number of the elect of God that must be accomplished and fulfilled, and Christ will delay his last coming until that is done, therefore “come” and accomplish the number of your elect. As you have it in Rev 6:11: “And white robes were given to every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” They must wait until the rest come in. Just as those who have invited a company of strangers to a feast wait until the last guest has come, so there will not be a glorious coming of Christ until all the elect are gathered into one body. And then will be the coming of all comings, the glorious coming of Christ to take us to himself and to make us sit with him “to judge the world” (1 Cor 6:2), as so many kings and judges of the world, and to be with him forever. As the apostle says, “Then shall we be ever with the Lord” (1 Thess 4:17-18). And that is a comfort indeed. As he adds there, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” And so you see the gradual performance of this promise.

Now I come to the last proposition, the one I mean chiefly to dwell on, a blessed truth and most suitable to this occasion.

Observation 6. As it is the duty, so it is the disposition of a gracious heart, to desire the glorious coming of Christ Jesus; and to desire all his other comings in their way and order toward this one, as they make way for his last coming.

In unfolding this, I will show you the grounds and reasons why the church does so. Then I will make some trials of whether we do so or not, and then give a few directions to help us in it.

Why does the church so greatly desire this second and glorious coming of Christ?

Reason 1. Because the church is in want until that time, and the ground of all desire is want. We lack our bodies, we lack many of our friends, and so on. But then there will be a supply of all.

Reason 2. Because “our life is hid with Christ in God,” and “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory” (Col 3:3-4). Our glorious head is there already. When he is revealed, then our glory will be revealed, for “he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all those that do believe” (2 Thess 1:10).

Reason 3. In regard to Christ himself. Christ is in some sense imperfect until the last day, until his “second coming.” For the mystical body of Christ is his fullness. Christ is our fullness, and we are his fullness. Now Christ’s fullness is made up when all the members of his mystical body are gathered and united together. The head and the members make only one natural body; so Christ and the church are only one mystical body: “As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many, are one body, so also is Christ” (1 Cor 12:12). That is why the saints are called “the glory of Christ” (2 Cor 8:23). In this sense, therefore, Christ is not fully glorious until that time. So the church desires that Christ may be glorious in himself and glorious in them, that he may come to be “glorious in his saints” (2 Thess 1:10).

Reason 4. Because where the treasure is, there will the heart be also (Matt 6:21). And where is the church’s treasure but in Christ? Our spirits are supernatural, and they are carried toward the best of spirits. And who is the best of spirits but Christ himself?

Reason 5. Because the members are carried toward union with the head. The happiness of the soul lies in union with the fountain of happiness, and the nearer the fountain of happiness, the happier. What is it that makes the blessed body of Christ happier than all the angels and men, but that it is hypostatically united to the second person of the Trinity, and so to the fountain of the Godhead? The nearer to God, the happier, and the fuller of grace and glory, because he is the God of all grace and glory. Therefore the nearer to Christ, the happier. Now after the resurrection we will be nearer, both in soul and in body.

We may see this by its contrary. What is it that makes hell so horrible? It is that there is an utter and eternal separation from the chief and choicest good, God himself. Here the wicked people of the world have the presence of God in the creatures. They taste the sweetness of God’s goodness in them. But in hell they will have none of it for all eternity. There will be an utter separation between Christ and them. But the joining to God, the fountain of all good, in heaven is what makes heaven heaven indeed. If Christ were not there, heaven would be no heaven. Therefore Paul says, “I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ” (Phil 1:23); and so the church says here, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Then we will be near, not in soul only, but in body and soul together; and in both we will be joined forever to the fountain of all good.

This is what the church desires here. And in the Song of Songs, what is it that the church prays for at the beginning? “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his lips” (Song 1:2). There she desires the first coming of Christ. But you have it afterward, in the conclusion of the book: “Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to the young hart or roe upon the mountain of spices” (Song 8:14). Such is the disposition of the church that before Christ came, good people were known by their desire for his coming. That is why holy men were described as those who “waited for the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25). O Lord, come quickly, come in the flesh! But now that the first coming is past, they desire his “second coming” just as much. And so in the epistle of St. Paul they are described as those who love and long for the appearing of Christ; a crown of righteousness is laid up for all those that love his appearance (2 Tim 4:8). Therefore, if we had the spirit of the church, we would echo Christ when he says, “I come quickly,” and answer, “Make haste, my beloved,” as the church says at the end of the Song of Songs.

Reason 6. Beloved, only compare the glory of that time with the glory we have here, and that will show another reason. I will show it a little by way of comparison: why the church should desire the “second coming” of Christ.

If the good things that we have by grace here are such “as eye hath not seen, or ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man to consider of” (1 Cor 2:9) (for the passage refers especially to grace; that is its natural and immediate meaning), then how transcendently unutterable and inconceivable are the things that are reserved for that time! If the “first fruits” (Rom 8:23) are so sweet, what will the full harvest be! If the “earnest,” the pledge given in advance (2 Cor 5:5; Eph 1:14), is so comforting, what will the whole bargain be! If this “joy be unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pet 1:8), and this “peace pass all understanding” (Phil 4:7), what will the fullness of joy, peace, and pleasures which are at God’s right hand for evermore (Ps 16:11), which will come then, do!

If the angels wonder at the wisdom of God in governing his church here in the midst of confusion, how will they be moved to a new and greater wonder when they see Christ “glorious in his saints” (2 Thess 1:10)!

If, when Christ was born in his humiliation, they sang, “Glory to God on high, peace on earth, good will towards men” (Luke 2:14), how joyful will those blessed spirits be when Christ and all his members are joined in one body in heaven!

If Abraham rejoiced to foresee by the eye of faith the first coming of Christ in the flesh, how we should rejoice by faith to see the second coming of Christ! If John the Baptist leaped in the womb for joy at the presence of Mary, the mother of our Lord (Luke 1:44), how our hearts will dance when we see the Lord himself in the great glory and majesty of heaven!

If Peter was so ravished by a little drop and glimpse of heaven when he saw the transfiguration of Christ on the mountain, so that he even lost and forgot himself, and “wist not what he said” (Luke 9:33), how will we be affected, do you think, when we see Christ, not in his transfiguration, but in his glorification, forever!

If old Simeon, when he saw Christ in his infancy, embraced him in his arms and said, “Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation” (Luke 2:29-30), how we will be carried away with joy and wonder to see Christ, not in his swaddling clothes, nor in his infancy, but in heaven, all glorious!

If the sight of Christ in his ordinances, in his word and sacraments, so affects a Christian’s heart as to transform him into their image (2 Cor 3:18), what will it do to see Christ “face to face,” without these mirrors (1 Cor 13:12)!

If the promises so revive us, as you have it in the Psalms, “Thy word hath quickened me” (Ps 119:50, and elsewhere), what will their full performance do!

If the communion of saints here is so sweet, even a heaven on earth (1 John 1:3), what will it be when all the blessed souls that have lived from the beginning of the world to its end are all together, and all of them entirely freed from every corruption and infirmity! What a blessed sight that will be!

If things prepared by men are so glorious, as the temple of Solomon was, what is that glory which was prepared before the world began, and is still being prepared for the church!

If rest from labor is so sweet, what is “the glorious liberty of the sons of God” (Rom 8:21)! A little liberty from corruption, a little freedom and enlargement of spirit here: how sweet that is! When we are set at liberty to serve God, when we have liberty of spirit to go boldly to God and to the throne of grace (Heb 4:16), how pleasant that is! But oh, the liberty of glory! That is true liberty indeed. Beloved, these things deserve and call for wonder rather than expression. So I leave them to your wondering and admiring rather than study long to express them. O you blessed souls, stand still a little, and consider by the eye of faith these glorious things and times to come. You see, then, by this that the church has great reason to say, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

Reason 7. Besides this, only consider the condition of the church here in this world. Even at the best, “while we are present in the body, we are absent from the Lord” (2 Cor 5:6). But for the most part the church is in this world like Daniel in the lions’ den, like sheep in the midst of ravening wolves, like a ship in the midst of the waves, and like a lily among thorns. All the birds of prey seize on the poor turtledove of Christ, and they bear a special and implacable malice against God’s church and children. Yes, often those who profess religion in its outward form actually let out its heart’s blood and deny its power. We see that it has been so ever since Christ’s coming, and it will be so to the end of the world. Satan abuses the great ordinances of God and makes them serve his own ends, so that nothing is free from Satan’s defilement; no, not even the best ordinances of God. We see how violently and roughly the poor church of God is handled.

Are there not often, within the church itself, prejudices, suspicions, and jealousies against one another, so that our company with one another is not as sweet and delightful as it should be? And “woe to the world because of offenses” (Matt 18:7). Are there not scandals and offenses in the church that hinder its comfort, and many times cause a falling out between those who are otherwise truly good? So in regard to Christians themselves, there is not such sweet contentment and delight in one another as there should be, and as there will be then. Where there is a different sight and a different light, there will be different judgments and affections. Now all Christians in this life have both a different light and a different sight. One sees things more clearly than another, and so their judgments differ a little, and therefore their affections too. Those promises of the lion and the lamb dwelling together (Isa 11:6) will not be exactly fulfilled until his “second coming”; until then there will be something of the lion and of the wolf in the best Christians. But then it will be completely fulfilled. Then all wolfish and lionish dispositions will be subdued. Then there will be no infirmity in others to displease us, nor any in us to offend them; then we will have an eternal communion together. Therefore, in regard to ourselves, are there not good reasons for Christians to say, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus”?

Then, as for each one of us in particular, does not everyone find true in himself what Paul says of himself, that we carry about with us a body of sin and a body of death? Our corruptions, which we carry about with us, are like a dead body tied to a living body. Now what an odious and loathsome thing it is for a man to carry a dead body around with him! Yet this is what we do. And the more we grow in grace, the more offensive it will be to us. For the more we grow in grace, the more life we have, and therefore the more antipathy against sin. The more we grow in grace, the more light we have to discern what is bad, and the more our love for grace will increase. Now the more light, and life, and love we have, the more we will be troubled at carrying about with us this body of sin and “the thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor 12:7). Some corruptions are as grievous to us as a thorn that tears the flesh. And this is the condition of the best people in this life. Therefore, in regard to the church and its enemies, and in regard to ourselves and every individual Christian, in view of their embattled and afflicted condition, do we not have cause to say, “Amen; come, Lord Jesus”? Thus we see the grounds the church has for saying so.

Let us now come to the second point: to test whether we can truly express this desire that the Spirit of God works. For it is only the Spirit in the spouse that says, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Let us see whether the Spirit says so in us.

We will not say much. It may be known from what was said at the beginning, and it is evident besides. Therefore, in a word or two.

Trial 1. Let us test ourselves by this: What benefit do we have from the first coming of Christ, from his death and the shedding of his blood? Does it pardon our sins? Are our consciences besprinkled by that from dead works to serve the ever-living God (Heb 9:14)? Are our hearts set at liberty to go to the throne of grace? Do we have any such benefit from his first coming? Then we cannot help looking for his second with a long and longing expectation.

But on the contrary, whoever has received no good from the first cannot truly desire nor comfortably expect the second coming of Christ. Why? The second coming is only to make good what is begun here. The first is to redeem our souls; the second is to glorify our bodies. If our souls are not redeemed, never look for the “redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:23). The first and second comings of Christ are so closely connected that they are often spoken of together: as the regeneration of our souls and the regeneration of our bodies, the adoption of our souls and the adoption of our bodies, the redemption of our souls and the redemption of our bodies. This shows that wherever there is the true redemption and adoption of the soul, the redemption and adoption of the body will follow, and an expectation of it as well. Christ will be redemption to us when he has first been redemption to our souls, in the assurance of the pardon of our sins. Look to that first, then.

Trial 2. If we desire the second coming of Christ, we will prepare for it. If a man says he desires to go to some great person, and yet never thinks of any preparation for it, it is only a pretended desire if he does not put on his best clothes and make himself fit for it, as Joseph did for Pharaoh (Gen 41:14). So if a man hopes for this coming of Christ, he will “purify himself for it, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). He will not appear in his filthy clothes, but will “put off the old man, and put on the new” (Eph 4:22-24). He will make himself ready, as the bride does for the coming of the bridegroom. Beloved, if the thoughts of Christ’s second coming are not powerful enough to work in the soul a great care to make itself fit and ready for it, it is only a false notion and a lying fancy; it is no holy desire.

Trial 3. Examine it by this: whether your hearts are the kingdom of Christ, whether he rules in your hearts here. Do we think we will reign with him in heaven, in his kingdom, if we will not yield up our hearts to be his kingdom on earth? No. He will come into our hearts before we come to him; he will come to rule in us here before we can ever think of coming to reign with him in heaven. Therefore all those who stand out against the ordinances of God, and will live in sin against their knowledge and conscience: do they spend any thoughts or wishes on Christ’s second coming? He will come indeed, but it will be a “day of darkness and gloominess” to them (Joel 2:2). Such people cannot say, “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly,” but rather, “Mountains come, and rocks come, come quickly: fall upon us, and hide us from the presence of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Rev 6:16). Nothing will be more terrible to such people than that day.

Fire is the most comforting thing, and the most terrible; and so God is most comforting to his own, and yet most terrible to those who do not prepare for his coming. “Who amongst us,” says the prophet, “shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Isa 33:14). Who will be able to appear before Christ? To those, then, who live in their sins in this glorious light of the gospel, there is a most terrible threatening, coming from the very coming of Christ. “If any man love not the Lord Jesus” (when he is clearly revealed in the gospel), “let him be Anathema, Maran-atha” (1 Cor 16:22). That is a more terrible curse than any in the law. As the greatest blessings come from the coming of Christ, so the most terrible threatening comes from the same. There is no more terrible curse anywhere else in all the Scriptures than that one in Corinthians. So “the Lord shall come in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to all them that know him not, and that obey not the gospel” (2 Thess 1:8). Therefore take heed of this.

Trial 4. Test it again by holy exercises. Those who truly desire the coming of Christ exercise themselves much in holiness. They exercise themselves here on earth in the beginning of heaven: in reading and hearing the word, in the communion of saints, in praying and acquainting themselves with God, and the like. In what else will we be employed when we come to heaven? There will be the perfection of these graces and exercises that were begun here on earth. Many a profane wretch’s heart swells with resentment when he comes to prayer or any divine exercise. He has been brought up in pride, and his heart is not subdued to holy exercises here. Heaven will not tolerate such people, and such people will not tolerate heaven. In heaven there is nothing but praising God continually. Now if you will not endure these holy exercises here, what would you do in heaven? Therefore, I beg you, let us not deceive our own souls.

If we truly say, “Come, Lord Jesus,” it will undoubtedly have an influence on our lives. It will stir up all the graces in the soul: faith, to lay hold of it; hope, to expect it; love, to embrace it; patience, to endure anything for it; heavenly-mindedness, to make us fit and ready for it; faithfulness in our callings, so that we may settle our accounts before that time; and so on. There is not a grace of the Spirit that is not stirred up and quickened by it. Therefore do not be deceived. It is impossible that we should have dead, dull, and cold hearts and yet believe this, that there is such a glorious time to come. If our hearts think of this glorious appearing of Christ with the spirit and thought of faith, it will undoubtedly inspire us and give strength and comfort in all our sufferings and in all our doings. Therefore we should put ourselves to shame. What! Can I hear of these things and be no more affected by them than I am? So we should lament the deadness and dullness of our hearts, and labor to work our hearts up to a wondering admiration of the excellencies that will be revealed then.

But I go on, and come in the last place to a few directions for how we should frame ourselves to this, so that we are able to utter this desire and prayer.

Direction 1. Labor to be reconciled to God. Maintain and preserve your peace and reconciliation with God, and then all the things that lie between us and the second coming of Christ will be reconciled to us. No, more than that: all things will be ours. Death will be ours, the devil will be ours, to help us to heaven. When we are at peace with God, all things will be at peace with us (Job 5:23; Hos 2:18). And then we may have comforting thoughts of that day. Then we can think of death and not be troubled, and of hell and God’s wrath and not be disquieted. Therefore, above all, let us get assurance of the great point of justification, of being clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Let us be sure to be found in that and to appear in it, and to understand that point well. St. Paul was wonderfully careful about this. He desires to have it as a seal of the righteousness of faith, and “to be found in him, not having his own righteousness” (Phil 3:9), as if he were wary of encroaching on Christ’s glory. If we are clothed with the garments of Christ’s righteousness, we may pass through the wrath of God, for that alone is wrath-proof. That will pacify God, and pacify the conscience too. It is a righteousness of God’s own providing and accepting. Be sure that you understand it well, that you appear not in your own righteousness but in his, and then you may think of that day with comfort.

Direction 2. If we want to think with comfort of the blessed times that are to come, then let us labor to grow in the new creature, to be more and more filled with the fullness of God, and to strive to have still more of Christ in us. The more of Christ we have in us, the more we will desire his coming to us. Let us desire and labor to have all the corners of the heart filled up with the Spirit of Christ: our understandings with knowledge, our affections with love and delight, and our wills with obedience. The Scripture calls it “being filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph 3:19). Now the more we enter into the kingdom of heaven by growth in grace here, the fitter we will be for it, and the more we will desire it. The more suitability there is between us and heaven, and the glorious condition to come, the more we will long for it and rejoice in the thought of it.

Direction 3. Be sure to do what you do quickly and thoroughly. Satan is so wise that he knows his time is short, and therefore he lays about him with great wrath and fury (Rev 12:12). Oh, let us be wise enough to know that our time is short. God himself tells us that it is so (1 Cor 7:29). Our time is a little spot of time cut out between two eternities, one before and one after. Then let us do our work quickly. We may be suddenly surprised before we are aware. As the tree falls, so it lies; as a man lives, so he dies; and as death leaves us, so judgment and the second coming of Christ will find us. We should therefore, as the apostle says, “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). Many people are troubled about this when they come to die: “Oh, I have not done this. I should have done this and that, and I have not. I have done amiss; I have not thoroughly repented. Something has not been done that should have been done. I have not made my evidences sound; I have not ‘made my calling and election sure’ (2 Pet 1:10). Oh, my conscience is troubled, and my soul cannot find peace in God,” and so on. Oh, take warning from them, and work out your salvation now with fear and trembling, and do it on this ground: that the time is short and uncertain.

Beloved, this is a great error in us. We think of reaping as soon as we begin to sow. No, worse: we begin to sow just when we should be reaping. We begin to think of God and goodness when we lie dying. That should be a time for reaping the comfort of all our former life and for thinking of the time to come with joy. Oh, what a comfortable thing it would be if we could look back with St. Paul and say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim 4:7). He looks back with comfort, and therefore he looks forward with comfort too: “From henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day” (2 Tim 4:8). When a Christian has done the will of God and looks back and says, “I had a race to run, and I have run it; I had a faith to keep, and I have kept it; I had a fight to fight, and I have fought it,” and then looks forward and sees a crown of eternal glory before his eyes, what comfort and ravishing joy this will bring! Whether he looks back or forward, all is glorious.

But if we are careless and negligent, and will not work out our salvation, then we cannot look back with comfort like Hezekiah and say to God, “Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in truth and uprightness of heart, and have done that which was right in thy sight” (Isa 38:3). Nor can we look forward with any comfort like St. Paul. Beloved, heaven is a pure place, and it requires a great deal of purity in those who come there; and Christ is holy and glorious. Therefore we must set no limit or ceiling to our holiness in this life, but keep growing more and more heavenly until we come to heaven. That is why the apostle sets it down as a matter of wonder in the last chapter of St. Peter: “Seeing all these things shall be dissolved,” he says (2 Pet 3:11). What does he say to that? He cannot tell what to say. So he says nothing in particular, only in general: “What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness!”

Some people set a measure and limit for themselves, and if anyone goes beyond their measure, then those others are this and that: fussy, overnice, precise, and so on. Why! What measure of holiness should be set for those who look for the second coming of Christ? “What manner of persons ought we to be!” He cannot tell what to say in particular, and therefore he leaves it to our wonder. We must not, then, settle down and set any limit to our perfection here in this world. We must keep growing in grace and godliness, looking for and hastening toward the coming of the day of the Lord.

Direction 4. Let us take every advantage to help us in this desire and prayer for the second coming of Christ, from all the crosses of this life and from all the busy workings of Satan. Satan was shut out of paradise, but he is still creeping into the paradise of the church. Into heaven he will never come. He was once there, and was cast down from there, never to come there again. But in the church he is always stirring. He is never so tied up that he has no mischief to do. Now let the thought of Satan and his instruments, who are always molesting the church one way or another and are like thorns in its sides, stir us up to desire the second coming of Christ.

In the same way, let us help ourselves from every particular loss and cross. If we have lost a friend, let us fill our hearts with comfort from the second coming of Christ, and from the thought that the time will then come when all friends will meet together. Do we leave anything behind us in this world? We will meet with better there: better friends, a better place, better employment; everything better. Therefore let us take advantage of everything to further that desire.

In a word, I beg you, since there are many things that might be said to this purpose, make it your main care to fit yourselves for that time. While we live here, it is a time of longing. It is the time between the betrothal and the wedding. Let us labor to be fitted and prepared for that time.

Objection. But you will hear many a good soul cry out, “Oh, I am not as eager for the coming of Christ as I ought to be.”

Answer. True. It may be so because of your lacks: because you have not prepared yourself, because you are not spiritual, because you are not mortified. And this arises, among other causes, from this one: you are ignorant of the covenant of grace, that God is your Father and that he has bound himself as a father to pardon the sins of his children. Therefore, if your sins are only infirmities that you strive against, you may take comfort. Mark what the apostle says: “We ourselves, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves do groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, even the redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:23). If we labor against our corruptions, that should be so far from hindering our desire for Christ’s coming that we should desire it all the more, because we labor under them; for then we will be fully rid of them. Labor to understand the covenant of grace more fully. Christ is a mediator and intercessor. For whom? For perfect people? No, but for those who unwillingly run into debt with God every day. That is why we say in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts” (Matt 6:11-12). Ignorance of the truths of the gospel is what so often makes us as cold, dead, and dull as we are.

Objection. But you will say, “I still desire to live. Those who desire the second coming of Christ desire that he would come and fetch them out of the world when they have done their work. May I not do the same?”

Answer. Yes, you may, but it must be with this reservation: that you may bring as many to heaven as you can, and that you may gain further evidence of your salvation. In these and other respects you may desire to live, provided that God may honor himself by our lives. But simply, and as the thing is in itself, we ought to be of St. Paul’s mind, “to desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ,” which is far better (Phil 1:23).

Therefore, when the time of our dissolution comes, we are to be willing to give up our souls to God, not only patiently but cheerfully. Why? The day of death is a day of jubilee, a day of coronation, a day of marriage, a day of harvest, a day of triumph. We should be ashamed at how out of proportion our desires for earthly things are to our desires for heavenly ones. Is the laborer reluctant to think of a sabbath, a day of rest? Is a soldier reluctant to think of a day of victory and triumph? Is someone betrothed reluctant to think of the wedding day, or a king of the day of his coronation? They all long for these things. Why then should we not long for that time when all these things will truly and really be fulfilled? All those earthly things are only shadows, and scarcely even that, of the things to come; and yet how eagerly people desire them! Do we not have just cause, then, to shame and blame ourselves for how out of proportion our desires for earthly and heavenly things are?

But when we have finished our work, when God has been served by us in our generation (as it was said of David, “that he served God in his own generation, by the will of God, and after that fell on sleep,” Acts 13:36), then God will take away our desire to live any longer; then he will make us even willing to die. So it was with St. Paul in the last epistle he ever wrote. When he had run his race, fought his fight, and finished his course, then there was nothing before him but a crown: “Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness” (2 Tim 4:8). And later in the same chapter: “The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim 4:18). So Christ says, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self” (John 17:4-5). So when the children of God receive a sign from the Spirit of God that they have done all that God would have them do, then they will be most willing to go from here. In the meantime, they “must run with patience the race that is set before them” (Heb 12:1). They must fight the fight that God has appointed for them and keep the faith. They must be willing to do all that God would have them do, in humble submission to his will. But when they have done everything, then their hearts will be enlarged to desire the coming of Christ, that he would come and call them home.

So this doubt is sufficiently answered. In a word, I will end with this.

When you find your hearts dull and cold and slow to do good, then fetch fire from here to set them aflame: from the second coming of Christ, from the love of God in Christ, from the love of his appearing. Oh, rouse up and quicken your hearts with such thoughts! Are you in conflict with any enemies, either without or within? Remember what the apostle says: “Fight the good fight of faith; lay hold on eternal life” (1 Tim 6:12). What is the way to fight the good fight of faith? Why, lay hold on eternal life, and that will make a man fight indeed.

Are you in any comfortless condition? If you are, see what the apostle Paul says to the Thessalonians: “Wherefore, comfort ye one another with these words” (1 Thess 4:18). With what words? Why, “We shall be ever with the Lord” (1 Thess 4:17). Oh, these words will comfort indeed! When you have lost your friends, your estate, or anything else, consider that it will all be fully made up there. Make it up beforehand, as it were, with comforts of a higher nature. These are things that will comfort indeed.

And so, when you find yourselves dull in doing the work of the Lord, think about the second coming of Christ, and that he will not come empty-handed then, but he will bring his reward with him (Rev 22:12). Consider what St. Paul said to Timothy: “I charge thee, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and dead at his appearing, and his kingdom…” (2 Tim 4:1). The holy apostle had no weightier solemn charge with which to move Timothy to be diligent and to quicken him in his ministry than the coming of our Lord Jesus. So let us stir ourselves up and comfort ourselves by it.

Beloved, the soul is never so well in tune as when thoughts of these glorious times have raised its affections to the highest pitch and peg. Then the soul is never without comfort, and as long as it is so affected, it cannot sin. For when we sin, we lose our frame: we let the soul down into base desires, and we let our thoughts loose from cleaving to Christ and to the time to come. When we let them loose, they sink down to earthly things, and that is the cause of all sin and of all discomfort.

So, as long as we keep our hearts in a blessed frame of faith and in love for the appearing of Christ, they are impregnable. Satan cannot come between us and our faith. But he labors to loosen our faith and love, and to distract us with the business of the world, so that we will very seldom think of these things. Alas, that we “who are born again to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us” (1 Pet 1:4) should have so few and such light thoughts of our inheritance!

If a man were to go on a journey by sea a year from now, he would be thinking about his journey every day: what he should take with him, and what will do him good when he gets there. All of us have a long journey to go, from earth to heaven, and we should be thinking about it every day of the year.

But we have a crowd of people in the world whose whole happiness lies in putting off all thoughts of that kind: in deferring the day of their death, putting the evil day far away from them, and not thinking about it, so that they may drown themselves in pleasure and sensuality. Ah, what a pitiful state Satan and our own sinful dispositions have brought us to, that we should place our happiness, safety, and comfort in putting off thoughts of death, in going on presumptuously in sin, and never thinking about that great day! Alas, they cannot think of it except as Felix did, who, when he heard Paul dispute and reason of “righteousness, and temperance, and judgment to come, trembled” (Acts 24:25).

Why, let Felix tremble, and let the world tremble; but let every Christian who has made his peace with God rejoice. Poor birds sing when spring returns, for it warms them and puts life and spirit into them, and they welcome the light and heat of the sun with singing and melody. Even so, let us welcome Christ’s coming in our thoughts with joy and comfort, having made our peace with God substantially and solidly. Let us look up and lift up our heads with joy, for our redemption draws near (Luke 21:28).

The Particular Occasion

As is well known, the particular occasion of this gathering is to observe with due solemnity the funeral of that worthy man Sir Thomas Crew, one of the king’s serjeants, and it was with him in mind that I chose this text. If I wanted material for speaking of him, he had many excellent natural gifts that commended him. I might speak of the quickness of his wit, the firmness of his memory, the readiness of his expression, and the clearness and solidity of his judgment, which could penetrate into the depths of things, and so on. And about his ability in his particular calling I might say many things. He was a man very eminent in his calling. He was one of the oracles of the law in his time, one who had gathered very long and wide experience and wonderfully great skill in that profession.

And surely, beloved, these things are not to be neglected by us, even though in God’s regard they count for little. As for natural gifts, the devil excels in them and has more than any man. Yet in men’s regard they are to be esteemed, for they clear people from the reproach and slander of the world. The world will say, “That man was religious, but he had no skill in his calling,” or, “a good man, but unlearned.” So it removes reproach and disgrace from religion when it can be said, “This was an excellent man in his profession, and at the same time a truly excellent Christian.”

It is the habit and fashion of proud profaneness to bring religion as low as it can. Such people will take away or belittle every gift in religious persons as far as they can, so that religion itself may seem vile and contemptible. For if religion should once win credit, their own baseness would show all the more, and their pride will not endure that. Therefore, if these things are to be regarded in respect of men, we ought to thank God when grace is graced with excellent gifts. That is why God sometimes grants excellent gifts to people who are truly religious. Apart from that, grace is lovely in itself. But as a precious stone or pearl set in gold is more precious and glorious, so religion set in the stem of nature and excellent gifts has more luster and beauty, and is put to larger use.

You have a crowd of profane wretches in the world, even in these glorious times of the gospel, who glory only in their excellent gifts. They will resort even to the devil himself, if only they may outshine others and win a reputation for wit. And some will vilely venture on sin against their conscience, thinking that they would lose all reputation for wit and ability if they should once become religious. But you see that God often adorns religious people with excellent natural gifts. Religion does indeed cut off the froth, the excess and overflow of gifts; but it increases their solidity, makes them spiritual, and directs them to their right end, the glory of God and the good of mankind. Therefore the two can stand together well enough.

Now in this worthy man there was a gathering and joining together of the gifts of nature, the gifts of industry, and also the gifts of grace. And what steered his conduct and ruled everything aright was the true fear of God, which led him to set the stamp of religion on all his ways throughout his whole life.

As for the Lord’s Day, something of this may be seen from that. He took wonderful care to keep it holy. He was as eminent as anyone in his profession for that. He would not meddle with the business of his calling on that day. He did not think it enough to hear the sermon and divine service and then go to the work of his calling. And in this he is to be commended. For whose good has God appointed the Lord’s Day? Is it not for our own? Would we not grow base and earthly-minded if for one day in seven we were not heavenly-minded and did not think about our everlasting condition in another world? Shall we then begrudge what God appoints for us?

But to return. Besides his care for the Lord’s Day (for he did not limit his religion to one day), he was careful to have morning and evening prayers in his family; yes, and private prayers too, at least twice a day. And just as this brought strength to his soul and put beauty upon it, so it also sanctified his labors, prospered his business, and brought it to a good outcome. He lost nothing by it. And seeing it is almost impossible in these profane times for such practices not to meet with envy and scorn from some, he had learned with Moses “to bear the reproach of Christ” (Heb 11:26). He counted nothing more glorious than the profession of religion. And truly religion is a glorious thing: it puts glory and beauty upon the soul.

But there are many people in these days who will not own Christ in his cause. How will such people look him in the face another day, when he has said, “Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with his holy angels” (Mark 8:38)?

But this worthy man, I say, carried through steadily whatever he undertook with good judgment. He would not be scorned or turned out of his course by anyone. He was a child of wisdom, able to justify what he did against the spirit of gross and proud profaneness, and against an empty, formal, dead, cold profession. He had not only the word of God to back him, but also his own excellencies, and the sweetness he felt and found in his Christian course, to defend him. And this is what all of us should labor for.

He was, moreover, an exceedingly conscientious man. He had a very tender conscience and was willing to be directed and resolved in all doubtful matters, which was an excellent thing. He knew, as all of you should, that the time would come before long when a man would give a great deal to have a good conscience; and this he had.

In his conduct in his family he was very mild and gentle at all times. He was not like some who, sweetened by a fee, are wonderfully mild and calm toward their clients but are lions in their own houses. His behavior was not like that.

In his dealings with other kinds of people he was sweet and loving, and very useful. He was full of goodness and offices of love. He did not carry himself grandly because of his offices or position, but was, as David says of himself, “as a weaned child” (Ps 131:2). Though his gifts raised him up and advanced him above the ordinary sort of people, his grace leveled him, so that he made himself equal to those of lower rank; and yet in such a way that he had the wisdom to understand and know himself in his place. And so grace will teach a man to do.

He was a marvelously great encourager of honest, hardworking, godly ministers, for their Master’s sake and for their work’s sake, and he lost nothing by it. He had a prophet’s reward: the prayers of all good people who knew him. And I hope that this commendation will not die with him, but that it will live on in those in whom he lives.

Toward the poor he was very merciful and compassionate. He was the poor man’s lawyer, so much so that the last case he ever pleaded was a pauper’s suit, for a poor man and a minister, as was publicly shown to the greatest and most judicious magistrates in the kingdom. He was a foot to the lame, and eyes to the blind, as Job says he was (Job 29:15), and he made the widows to rejoice. He was a helpful and fruitful man, “a tree of righteousness,” full of good fruit. He made the times and places in which he lived better. He was a great lover of his country, even to some degree at his own cost.

It pleased King James, of famous memory, to choose him along with some other commissioners to go into Ireland on public business. He carried this out with such care and conscience that when he returned home he was made the king’s serjeant, and after that Speaker in Parliament and the mouth of the Commons.

He practiced his calling for forty years, and in that time God blessed him with a great increase of his estate. God sometimes delights to make good his temporal promises to a religious, industrious, and faithful man, and to do so in the eyes of the world. At other times God carries things in a cloud and in mystery. We cannot see why such and such people should go backward in the world. This will become clear to us another day, in the day of revelation. But because God would encourage religion, faithfulness, and industry, he makes good his temporal promises to such faithful men as he was. Such was his faithfulness, and such his skill and quickness in dispatching people’s cases and business, that people were willing to put their cases and estates into his hands. It is no wonder, therefore, if in so long a time as forty years of practice God blessed him with so great an estate.

Objection. But some may object to his going to London in recent times, when his infirmities were growing upon him.

Answer. But this much I know: the pressing needs of other people’s affairs urged him and partly drew him to it. And besides, staying at home was very tedious to him. It is death to an industrious man who has been at work to be idle, just as it is death to an idle man to be put to work. He was a man of active spirit, and one who was not hindered by his journeys. Nor would it have helped or eased him to stay at home. Therefore you must judge charitably of that.

But I come briefly to the time of his sickness, and so to the hour of his death.

In these later years he had two separate, severe, harsh monitors that put him in mind of his end, namely the stone and the strangury. In these painful diseases he bore himself with wonderfully great patience. No one ever heard any words fall from him that showed any impatience.

Toward his end he considered that he was now bound for another and a better place. So when he was invited to dinner in the house of which he was a member, Gray’s Inn, he said, “I must dine in another place.”

When his sickness seized him more sharply, though its pain took away a great part of the powers of his soul, he still showed a great deal of strength of faith by various words that fell from him: “As the hart brays after the rivers of water, so panteth my soul after thee, O God” (Ps 42:1). And, as the church does here, “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly” (Rev 22:20); and, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word” (Luke 2:29). He was displeased with those around him who, out of their love for him, called him back out of a faint with cordials and so drew out his life longer than he wished. “You keep me too long from Christ,” he said. “God is merciful to me, and you are not.” And he said much more like it. And when they lifted his body, his spirit was so strong in him that it was as if he desired to meet Christ before his time.

And so at length this blessed man meekly yielded up his blessed soul into the hands of his blessed Savior, who had so dearly bought it, sanctified it, and sealed it by his holy and blessed Spirit.

Beloved, I think there have been few people in recent times whose loss was greater and more widely felt than this worthy man’s. His servants lost a kind and loving master; his children, a most tender and careful father; his friends, a true, cordial, and hearty friend; the practitioners of the law, a special ornament of it; the ministers especially, a sweet encourager; the poor clients, a loving patron; the richer sort, a grave, wise, and judicious counselor; religion and justice, a great supporter; and the region where he lived, a faithful magistrate. So here is the loss of many.

But what has he lost? He has attained what he desired so earnestly. He has joined himself to Christ and has left behind him a monument of mortality, the sad remembrance and remains of him, his dead body. He has made a happy exchange: earth for heaven; the company of men for the company of perfect souls and angels in heaven; troublesome employments here for glorious employments forever. So he is no loser.

He has also left behind him another sweet memorial and remembrance of himself, as sweet as the apothecary’s ointment, to the church and people of God.

To sum it all up, he lived all his days in the best times the church has known since the apostles’ times. He was born under the gospel and lived under the gospel. He began to favor the best things even from his youth. And God lengthened his days very long for our good. That is why God almost miraculously preserved his weak, worn body. It was remarkable that such a spirit should endure so long in such a body under such diseases. But at length, being full of days and full of honor with all good people, and with God having blessed him in his children (for his children’s children inherit his blessing), he yielded up his blessed soul and triumphant spirit, in the comfort and assurance of a happy exchange, into the hands of God. It was God whom he had loved, whose cause he had owned here in the world in the midst of this sinful generation, and whom he professed even unto death; it was God whose coming he desired so earnestly. There, and with him, we now leave him.

And as for you, beloved, who fully know, as the apostle Paul says, his purpose, his manner of life, his faith, his long-suffering, his charity, patience (2 Tim 3:10), I beg you, do not let his memory die with him, but let the virtues that were in him live in you as long as you live. If there is anything praiseworthy, or of good report (as indeed there was much in him), “think on these things” (Phil 4:8). If there were any infirmities in him (and I think there were as few in him as in any man), love has a mantle to cover them. He was a gracious man in every way, one who adorned the doctrine and gospel of Christ in everything. Therefore I beg you, as the apostle says, be followers of him, as he was of Christ (1 Cor 11:1). We must one day give an account to God not only for the sermons we have heard but also for the examples of those among whom we have lived: how we have profited by the lights God has set before us in the world, and whether we have imitated their examples or not. We must give an account for all the good we might have received, not only through the means of salvation but also through the examples of worthy people set before us.

I beg you, by the tender mercies of the Lord Jesus, “think on these things,” and the peace of God be with you!

Dear Sir,

I understand from your letter that you have many great trials. Some are outward and bodily, and some inward and spiritual: the loss of inward comfort, and the buffeting of your soul with Satan’s temptations (and that in more than an ordinary way). And what makes all of these, inward and outward, the more heavy and unbearable is that you have lacked Christian fellowship with the saints of God, to whom you might make your griefs known, and by whom you might receive comfort from the Lord and encouragement in your Christian course.

Now what I earnestly desire on your behalf, and hope you also desire on your own, is that by these afflictions you may draw nearer to God and be more conformed to his command. For if our afflictions are not sanctified, that is, if we do not make a holy use of them by purging out the old leaven of our inborn corruptions, they are only judgments to us and make way for greater plagues (John 5:14). And therefore God’s chief end and aim in all the afflictions he sends to his children in love is that they may be partakers of his holiness, and so their afflictions may serve their spiritual advantage and profit (Heb 12:10). The Lord does not aim at himself in any calamities he lays on us, for God is so infinitely all-sufficient that we can add nothing to him by all our doing or suffering. His main aim is at our improvement and sanctification in them and by them. Therefore our duty in every affliction and pressure is to think this way with ourselves: How shall we carry and conduct ourselves under this cross, so that our souls may reap profit by it? In one word, this is done by our returning and drawing nearer to the Lord, as his holy apostle urges us (Jas 4:8). In all calamities the Lord has a special eye to this, and he is exceedingly angry if he does not find it.

The prophet declares that his anger was not turned from Israel, because they turned not to him that smote them (Isa 9:12-13). Now it is impossible for a man to draw near to God and turn to him if he does not turn from his evil ways. For in every conversion there is something to be turned from, as well as something to be turned to.

Now what we must turn to is God, and what we must turn from is sin, since sin is diametrically opposed to God and is what separates God and us.

For this purpose we must search and try our hearts and ways, and see what sins there are that keep us from God and separate us from his gracious favor. Above all, we must weed out our particular bosom sins. This is what the ancient church of God counseled one another to do in the time of their anguish and affliction: “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord” (Lam 3:39-40). For though sin does not make a final divorce between God and his chosen people, it may still make a dangerous rupture, by taking away the sense of comfort and suspending the sweet influence of his favor and the effectual working of his grace.

And therefore, dear Sir, my earnest plea and desire is that you would diligently read through the book of your conscience and enter into a thorough search and examination of your heart and life. Every day before you go to bed, take a time of recollection and meditation, as holy Isaac did in his private walks (Gen 24:63). Hold a private court session in your soul, and indict yourself for all the sins you have committed, in thought, word, or deed, and for all the good duties you have omitted. This self-examination, if it is as strict and rigorous as it ought to be, will soon show you the sins you are most inclined to (the chief cause of all your sorrows). And consequently, by God’s help, it will effectually teach you to flee from those venomous and fiery serpents that have stung you so.

You say that you have committed many grievous sins, such as abusing God’s gracious ordinances and neglecting the golden opportunities of grace, and you take these to be the origin of all your troubles. Even so, I must tell you that there is another bitter gourd in the pot, another great enormity, though you do not perceive it. That is your separation from God’s saints and servants in the acts of his public service and worship. You may clearly discern this by the affliction itself. For God is methodical in his corrections, and many times he so suits the cross to the sin that you may read the sin in the cross. You confess that your main affliction, and what made the others more bitter, is that God took away those to whom you might make your complaint, and from whom you might receive comfort in your distress. And is it not just of God that when you willfully separate yourself from others, he should separate others from you? Certainly, when we undervalue a mercy, especially one as great as the communion of saints, the Lord commonly takes it away from us until we learn to prize it at its full value.

Consider well, therefore, the heinousness of this sin. So that you may understand it better, first consider that it is against God’s express command, which charges us not to forsake the assemblies of the saints (Heb 10:25). Again, it is against our own greatest good and spiritual comfort. For by cutting ourselves off from communion and excommunicating ourselves from that blessed society, we deprive ourselves of the benefit of their holy conversation, their godly instruction, their divine consolations, their brotherly admonitions, and their loving rebukes. And what an inestimable loss that is! Nor can we share in such profit from their prayers as we otherwise might. For as the soul in the natural body conveys life and strength to every member as the members are knit and joined together, and not as they are cut apart, so Christ conveys spiritual life and vigor to Christians, not as they are disjoined from the mystical body, the church, but as they are united to it.

But you will say that England is not a true church, and that you therefore separate, to adhere to the true church.

I answer that our church is easily proved to be a true church of Christ.

1. Because it has all the essentials necessary to constitute a true church: sound preaching of the gospel, right administration of the sacraments, prayer religiously performed, and evil persons justly punished (though not in the measure that some criminals and evildoers deserve). Therefore it is a true church.

2. Because it has begotten many spiritual children to the Lord, who for soundness of judgment and holiness of life are not inferior to any in the other Reformed churches. Indeed, many of the Separatists, if they were ever converted at all, were converted here among us (which is something a false and adulterous church could not have communicated).

But I hear you reply that our church is corrupted with ceremonies and plagued with profane persons. What of it? Must we then separate over ceremonies, which many think may be lawfully used? But suppose they are evils: must we tear the church apart over ceremonial rites, over circumstantial evils? That would be a remedy worse than the disease. Besides, did not all the true churches of Christ have their blemishes and deformities, as you may see in the seven Asian churches (Rev 2-3)? And though you may find some churches overseas that are free from ceremonies, they are nevertheless more corrupt in their preachers (which is the main thing), as in profaning the Lord’s day, and so on.

As for the wicked and profane persons among us, though we are to labor by every good means to purge them out, we are not to separate because they remain among us. For there will be a mingling and mixture in the visible church as long as the world endures, as our Savior shows by many parables (Matt 13). If, then, we were so overrighteous as to abandon all churches because wicked persons are mixed in them, we would have to sail to the Antipodes, or rather go out of the world, as the apostle speaks (1 Cor 5:10). It is agreed by all that Noah’s ark was a type and emblem of the church. Now, just as it would have been nothing less than self-murder for Noah, Shem, or Japheth to have leaped out of the ark because of the company of that graceless Ham, so it is nothing better than soul-murder for a man to cast himself out of the church, whether for real or imagined corruptions. To conclude, as the angel commanded Hagar to return and submit to her mistress Sarah, so let me admonish you to bring yourself back from these wayward courses and humbly to yield yourself to the sacred communion of this truly evangelical Church of England.

I beseech you therefore, as you respect God’s glory and your own eternal salvation: as “there is but one body and one spirit, one Lord, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all,” so “endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4), as the apostle sweetly invites you. So shall the peace of God ever establish you, and the God of peace ever preserve you. This is the prayer of

Your remembrancer at the throne of grace,

Richard Sibbes