Monday, December 11, 2006

The Second Coming

GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH

WHERE HAVE THEY GONE;
AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING?
Ecclesiastes 4:1-2

Don Fortner

Sermon #71 Bible Doctrine

Title WHERE HAVE THEY GONE; AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING?

Text Ecclesiastes 4:1-2

Subject: The Happiness Of God's Saints Between Death And The Resurrection

Date: Tuesday Evening - November 17, 1998

Tape # U-95a

Introduction:

Ecclesiastes 4:1-2 "So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. (2) Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive."

The wise man, Solomon, after considering "all the oppressions that are done under the sun," the tears of the oppressed in this world, the power of those who oppress, and the fact that there is no comfort for God's saints in this world, said, "I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive." In the Book of Revelation, we read a similar statement - "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord" (14:13).

Yet, when you and I go to the funeral home and grave side to bid our loved ones good-bye, we are filled with sorrow and weeping. Why is that so?

If the one God has taken is an unbeliever, I can understand the sorrow. Those who die in unbelief and sin die under the wrath of God!
If our sorrow is the sorrow of parting friends, I can understand that too. None of us like to part with cherished friends and loved ones.
But if the sorrow is the sorrow of those who have no hope, uncontrollable anguish, or even anger at God for having taken someone we love, I cannot understand that

Such sorrow reveals both ignorance and unbelief, ignorance of the blessed state of God's saints in heaven. And unbelief regarding the Word of God, the promises of the gospel, and the finished work of Christ.

Tonight I want to talk to you about God's saints in heaven, our brothers and sisters who have been taken from us. The title of my message is WHERE HAVE THEY GONE; AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING?

Proposition: I want to show you that God's saints in heaven, our departed friends are alive and well. Though their bodies have died and been laid in the earth, they are more alive than ever and full of happiness.

Divisions: In the message this evening I have four points. I am going to make two statements and answer two questions.

1. The soul of a redeemed sinner, immediately after death, enters into heaven, into a state of eternal happiness.

2. For the believer, the death of the body and the freeing of his soul is a welcome relief.

3. Where have our departed friends gone?

4. What are God's saints doing in heaven?

I. First, let me show you from the Word of God that THE SOUL OF A REDEEMED SINNER, IMMEDIATELY AFTER DEATH, ENTERS INTO HEAVEN, INTO A STATE OF ETERNAL HAPPINESS.

It is not my intention to answer the foolish questions of infidels and heretics. And I do not intend to be sidetracked by the foolish speculations of ignorant men and women about life after death. My purpose is threefold: I want to…

Therefore, I will speak to you about the wonder of immortality with simplicity, appealing to no authority but the Word of God.

You and I are men and women with immortal, undying souls. Though these bodies must die and rot in the earth like the brute beasts, our souls will exist forever. As soon as you die your soul will enter into a state of endless happiness or misery. Man does not die like a dog. When your dog dies, that's all. It ceases to be. But when you die, that is not all. Your soul lives on, not in a state of sleep, insensitivity, and inactivity, but in the fulness of life and consciousness. "What will it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"

The souls of believers, redeemed sinners, men and women who have been made righteous before God by the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, the souls of God's saints return to God at death. Our departed brothers and sisters, as soon as they closed their eyes in death, opened them again in glory. There they shall remain until the second coming of Christ. And when Christ comes again in his glory, he will bring them all with him, raise their bodies from the dust, and reunite their bodies and souls in resurrection glory. Believers yet living when Christ comes shall then be changed, glorified, and caught up into glory. And we shall forever be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:13-18).

I will not now speak of the horrible state of the wicked and unbelieving after death. They shall immediately, as soon as they close their eyes in death, wake up in the torments of hell. O sinner, how I wish you could realize that. The wrath of God is upon you. If you die without Christ, you must be forever damned! To die without Christ is to die without hope! But for the believer, things are different. The believer, as soon as he dies, is alive forever. His soul goes immediately home to God in heaven.

A. The Word of God, when speaking of the believer's death, always represents it as an immediate entrance into heavenly blessedness and glory.

Actually, for the believer, death is not death at all, but the beginning of life. Our Lord said, "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die" (John 11:26). God's elect never die! The death of the body is the liberty of the soul. And as soon as our souls are freed from this body of sin and death, we shall enter heaven.

1. When the righteous perish from the earth, they live in uprightness forever (Isa. 57:1-2).

Isaiah 57:1-2 "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. (2) He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness."

In Justification By Imputed Righteousness.

In Regeneration By Imparted Righteousness.

Their bodies in the grave.

Their souls in the arms of Christ (Heb. 4:9-11).

God reckons the righteousness of Christ imputed to us to be our righteousness. And he makes it ours. In heaven, our departed brethren walk in their uprightness, in spotless purity and holiness, in shining robes of bliss and glory.

2. As soon as a believer dies, he is carried by God's angels into heaven, Abraham's bosom, the place of endless comfort (Lk. 16:22-25).

"Abraham's bosom" was a Jewish expression referring to the place of heavenly happiness prepared for God's saints between death and the resurrection.

Luke 16:22-25 "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; (23) And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. (24) And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. (25) But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented."

3. Every repentant sinner, as soon as he dies, is taken to be with Christ in Paradise (Lk. 23:43).

a. Paradise is heaven, the garden of God (Rev. 2:7).

It is the third heaven which Paul had been raptured for a brief visit (2 Cor. 12:2-4), during his pilgrimage here. Paradise is the place of the divine majesty, the place of happiness, pleasure, and endless delight.

b. It was to Paradise that Christ went as soon as he died, to obtain eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12).

c. It is a place of assured blessedness, promised to sinners who seek the mercy of God in Christ - "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."

"Today" - immediately.

"Shalt thou" - Assuredly.

"Be with me" - In endless company.

"In Paradise" - Heaven.

4. Death for the believer is gain, infinite, immeasurable gain (Phil. 1:21, 23).

Philippians 1:21-23 "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (22) But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. (23) For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:"

a. Paul believed that, as soon as he departed from this world, he would immediately be with Christ in blessed communion.

b. Believing the Word and promise of God, he looked upon death as a desirable thing.

B. What is the state of the saint's life between death and the resurrection?

I will not say more than the Bible says. But this much I know, the souls of God's saints are not floating around in the sky.

1. They have gone to a specific place, where Christ is. 2. They are assembled as a glorified church (Heb. 12:22-23).

Hebrews 12:22-24 "But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (23) To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (24) And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel."

Lazarus (Lk. 16:23).

Moses and Elijah (Matt. 17:3).

Do God's saints in heaven have a body between death and the resurrection? A physical body? No. A spiritual body, a heavenly form, a house for their souls? Most definitely! (2 Cor. 5:1).

2 Corinthians 5:1 "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

Every believer, as soon as he leaves this body enters into heavenly glory with Christ. It is this assurance of heavenly glory and bliss that makes death a desirable thing for the believer.

II. Secondly, I want you to see that FOR THE BELIEVER THE DEATH OF HIS BODY AND THE FREEING OF HIS SOUL IS A WELCOME RELIEF (Phil. 1:21-23; Rev. 14:13).

Revelation 14:13 "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

While living in this world, we seek to be content with God's good providence. We want to glorify him by living before him in faith, resigning all things to his will. And we would not change our lot in life, even if we could. Our heavenly Father knows and always does what is best.

I want you to understand me. I am not weary of life. I cannot imagine a man in this world having a happier, more tranquil, blessed life than I have.

My Wife - My Daughter - My Son-In-Law - My Granddaughter!

My Church Family - My Friends.

The Ministry God Has Given Us.

But life in this world, at best, is a burden to the heaven born soul. In this tabernacle we groan (2 Cor. 5:1-4). We groan for life! Our hearts cry, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death!"

2 Corinthians 5:1-4 "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2) For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: (3) If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. (4) For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life."

A. In this body we struggle with sin - In heaven we shall be free from sin!
B. In this body we are tempted and often fall - In heaven we shall never be tempted and shall never fall.
C. In this body we weep much - In heaven we shall weep no more.
D. In this body we long to be like Christ - In heaven we shall be like Christ.
E. In this body we long for Christ's presence - In heaven we shall forever be with Christ!

I have many friends in heaven whom I dearly love. I miss them. But I do not sorrow for them. I envy them!

Illustration:

When an eagle is happy in an iron cage, when a sheep is happy in a pack of wolves, when a fish is happy on dry land, then, and not until then, will my soul be happy in this body of flesh! Death for this man will be a welcome relief (Psa. 17:15).

Psalms 17:15 "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness."

III. I have shown you from the Scriptures that God's saints, as soon as they die, enter into heaven, and that death for the believer is a welcome relief. Now, let me answer this question - WHERE HAVE OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS GONE?

I have already shown you that they have gone to heaven. They have not gone to purgatory. They are not asleep. Our friends who have left us are in heaven. But where is heaven? That is a question I cannot answer. God has not told us. Heaven is a place somewhere outside this world, somewhere outside time. But it is a place, a real place.

Heaven is the place where Christ is.

Heaven is the place to which he has promised to bring us (John 14:1-3).

John 14:1-3 "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (2) In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

Heaven is the place where our departed friends are right now (Heb. 12:22-23).

Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-8. In these eight verses Paul tells us several things about the believer's death and entrance into heaven.

2 Corinthians 5:1-8 "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2) For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: (3) If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. (4) For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (5) Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. (6) Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (7) (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) (8) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

A. Death is the dissolving of this earthly body.

This body is of the earth.

This body is only suitable for the earth.

This body must return to the earth.

And the dissolution of this body is no cause for sorrow. It will be like taking off a shoe that hurts my foot - A welcome relief! It will be like laying aside a tool that is no longer needed. It will be like tearing down a tent to move into a house.

B. In heaven, we shall have another house for our souls. "In my Father's house are many mansions," houses, dwelling places.

A House Not Made With Hands.

A House Prepared By Christ.

A House Suitable To Our Glorious Life.

C. As soon as this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, we shall enter that house Christ has prepared for our souls in heaven.

There will be no lapse of time, no delay, between the dissolving of this body and our entrance into our house in glory.

D. This is not a matter of conjecture, but a matter of certainty - "We know…"

What happens to the believer after death? Do you ask me, "Where have our departed friends gone?" They have gone to heaven. They have gone home. They have gone to be with Christ!

IV. Fourthly, let me briefly answer one more question. WHAT ARE GOD'S SAINTS DOING IN HEAVEN?

The Scriptures speak sparingly with regard to the saints' employment in heaven. But there are four or five things revealed to us.

A. God's saints in heaven are celebrating and adoring the perfections of God in Christ (Rev. 5:11-12; 7:11-12).

His Holiness!

His Power!

His Wisdom!

His Goodness!

His Grace!

His Faithfulness!

His Love!

Revelation 5:11-12 "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; (12) Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."

Revelation 7:11-12 "And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, (12) Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen."

B. God's saints in heaven are delightfully employed in beholding the glory of God in the face of Christ (John 17:24).

John 17:24 "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."

Oh, my soul, what will it be to behold the glory of our Redeemer? We shall forever behold him as he is, with a constantly increasing knowledge of him.

Heaven is the Garden of God where the Rose of Sharon is in full blossom; and the fragrance of it perfumes the whole place. Heaven is to behold Christ forever, never taking my eyes off him, and never wanting to.

C. God's saints in heaven are employed in the constant exercise of every spiritual grace.

D. God's saints in heaven are employed in the unending service of Christ (Rev. 7:14-15).

Revelation 7:14-15 "And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (15) Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them."

Electing Grace.

Redeeming Grace.

Regenerating Grace.

Justifying Grace.

Sanctifying Grace.

Preserving Grace.

E. God's saints in heaven are engaged in constant, uninterrupted fellowship, communion, and conversation with one another and with the holy angels.

Covenant Mercy.

Angelic Services.

Redeeming Love.

Saving Grace.

Divine Providence.

Application:

1. Make certain that you are in Christ.
2. Take comfort with regard to those who have gone to heaven.
3. Be assured that our weary, troublesome lives will end soon - and they will end well (2 Cor. 4:17 - 5:1).

2 Corinthians 4:17-5:1 "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (18) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

Illustration:

AMEN.

Don Fortner, Pastor
Grace Baptist Church
Danville, Ky.

Friday, January 27, 2006

The Christ of Arminianism

Steven Houck

The Bible warns us that in the last days in which we live there will be many false Christs-those who claim to be Christ but who are imposters. Jesus said, "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ; and shall deceive many." (Matt. 24:4-5). We who profess to be Christians must take heed. We must be very careful that we are not deceived. Our calling is to trust, love, and follow the true Christ and Him only. We may have nothing to do with the false Christs who are so numerous in our day. We know about the Christ of the cults and other religions. He is a good man, a prophet, the first creation of God, a great spirit, a divine idea, or even a god himself. But he is not true and eternal God. He receives his existence from another who is greater than he. He is not the Christ of the Bible. We are not deceived by this Christ. He is a false Christ. We know about the Christ of Roman Catholicism. They profess that He is true God. He suffered and died for the forgiveness of sin. He arose again, ascended into heaven, and is coming again. But he is not a complete Savior. The Christ of the Roman Catholics can not save sinners without their own good works and the intercession of priests. He is not the Christ of the Bible. We are not deceived by this Christ. He is a false Christ. There is, however, another false Christ who is much more dangerous than the Christ of the cults and the Christ of Roman Catholicism. He has deceived people for many years and he continues to deceive millions. This Christ is so dangerous that, if it were not impossible, he would deceive the very elect (Matt. 24:24). He is the Christ of Arminianism. This false Christ is extremely dangerous because in many ways he appears to be the True Christ. They say that he is true God, equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. They say that he died on the cross to save sinners. They even say that he saves by his grace alone, without the work of man. This Christ will have nothing to do with the Christ of the cults and the Christ of Roman Catholicism. But watch out! Be warned! The Christ of Arminianism is not the Christ of the Bible. Do not be fooled! 1. The Christ of Arminianism - loves every individual person in the world and sincerely desires their salvation. The Christ of the Bible - earnestly loves and desires the salvation of only those whom God has unconditionally chosen to salvation. (Ps. 5:5, Ps. 7:11, Ps. 11:5, Matt. 11:27, John 17:9-10, Acts 2:47, Acts 13:48, Rom. 9:10-13, Rom. 9:21-24, Eph. 1:3-4) 2. The Christ of Arminianism - offers salvation to every sinner and does all in his power to bring them to salvation. His offer and work are often frustrated, for many refuse to come. The Christ of the Bible - effectually calls to Himself only the elect and sovereignly brings them to salvation. Not one of them will be lost. (Isa. 55:11, John 5:21, John 6:37-40, John 10:25-30, John 17:2, Phil. 2:13) 3. The Christ of Arminianism - can not regenerate and save a sinner who does not first choose Christ with his own "free will." All men have a "free will" by which they can either accept or reject Christ. That "free will" may not be violated by Christ. The Christ of the Bible - sovereignly regenerates the elect sinner apart from his choice, for without regeneration the spiritually dead sinner can not choose Christ. Faith is not man's contribution to salvation but the gift of Christ which He sovereignly imparts in regeneration. (John 3:3, John 6:44 & 65,John 15:16, Acts 11:18, Rom. 9:16, Eph. 2:1,Eph. 2:8-10, Phil. 1:29,Hebr. 12:2) 4. The Christ of Arminianism - died on the cross for every individual person and thereby made it possible for every person to be saved. His death, apart from the choice of man, was not able to actually save anyone for many for whom he died are lost. The Christ of the Bible - died for only God's elect people and thereby actually obtained salvation for all those for whom He died. His death was a substitutionary satisfaction which actually took away the guilt of His chosen people. (Luke 19:10, John 10:14-15 & 26, Acts 20:28, Rom. 5:10, Eph. 5:25, Hebr. 9:12, I Peter 3:18) 5. The Christ of Arminianism - loses many whom he has "saved" because they do not continue in faith. Even if he does give them "eternal security," as some say, that security is not based upon his will or work but the choice which the sinner made when he accepted Christ. The Christ of the Bible - preserves His chosen people so that they can not lose their salvation but persevere in the faith to the very end. He preserves them by the sovereign electing will of God, the power of His death, and the mighty working of His Spirit. (John 5:24, John 10:26-29, Rom. 8:29-30, Rom. 8:35-39, I Peter 1:2-5, Jude 24-25) As you can see, although the Christ of Arminianism and the Christ of the Bible may at first seem to be the same, they are very different. One is a false Christ. The other is the true Christ. One is weak and helpless. He bows before the sovereign "free will" of man. The other is the reigning Lord Who wills what He pleases and sovereignly accomplishes all that He wills. If you believe and serve the Christ of Arminianism, you must recognize the fact that you do not serve the Christ of the Bible. You have been deceived! Study the Scriptures and learn of the True Christ. Pray for grace to repent and trust Christ as your sovereign.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

The Christian in Romans 7

By A. W. Pink

In this chapter the apostle does two things:First, he shows what is not and what is the Law’s relation to the believer—judicially, the believer is emancipated from the curse or penalty of the Law (7:1-6); morally, the believer is under bonds to obey the Law (vv. 22, 25). Secondly, he guards against a false inference being drawn from what he had taught in chapter 6. In 6:1-11 he sets forth the believer’s identification with Christ as “dead to sin.” (vv. 2, 7, etc.) Then, from verse 11 onwards, he shows the effect this truth should have upon the believer’s walk. In chapter 7 he follows the same order of thought. In 7:1-6 he treats of the believer’s identification with Christ as “dead to the law” (see vv. 4, 6). Then, from verse 7 onwards he describes the experiences of the Christian. Thus the first half of Romans 6 and the first half of Romans 7 deal with the believer’s standing, whereas the second half of each chapter treats of the believer’s state; but with this difference: the second half of Romans 6 reveals what our state ought to be, whereas the second half of Romans 7 (vv. 13-25) shows what our state actually is.The controversy which has raged over Romans 7 is largely the fruitage of the Perfectionism of Wesley and his followers. That brethren, whom we have cause to respect, should have adopted this error in a modified form, only shows how widespread today is the spirit of Laodiceanism. To talk of “getting out of Romans 7 into Romans 8” is excuseless folly. Romans 7 and both apply with undiminished force and pertinence to every believer on earth today. The second half of Romans 7 describes the conflict of the two natures in the child of God: it simply sets forth in detail what is summarized in Galatians 5:17; Romans 7:14, 15, 18, 19, 21 are now true of every believer on earth. Every Christian falls far, far short of the standard set before him—we mean God’s standard, not that of the so-called “victorious life” teachers. If any Christian reader is read to say that Romans 7:19 does not describe his life, we say in all kindness, that he is sadly deceived. We do not mean by this that every Christian breaks the laws of men, or that he is an overt transgressor of the laws of God. But we do mean that his life is far, far below the level of the life our Savior lived here on earth. We do mean that there is much of “the flesh” still evident in every Christian—not the least in those who make such loud boastings of their spiritual attainments. We do mean that every Christian has urgent need to daily pray for the forgiveness of his daily sins (Luke 11:4), for “in many things we all stumble” (Jas. 3:2, R. V.).In what follows we shall confine ourselves to the last two verses of Romans 7, in which we read, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with flesh the law of sin” (vv.24, 25).This is the language of a regenerate soul, and it sums up the contents of the verses immediately preceding. The unregenerate man is wretched indeed, but he is a stranger to the “wretchedness” here expressed, for he knows nothing of the experience which evokes this wail. The whole context is devoted to a description of the conflict between the two natures in the child of God. “I delight in the law of God after the inward man” (v. 22), is true of none but born-again persons. But the one thus “delighting” discovers “another law in his members.” This reference must not be limited to his physical members, but is to be understood as including all the various parts of his carnal personality. This “other law” is also at work in the memory, the imagination, the will, the heart, etc.This “other law,” says the apostle, warred against the law of his mind (the new nature), and not only so, it brought him “into captivity to the law of sin.” (v. 23) To what extent he was brought into “captivity” is not defined. But brought into captivity he was, as is every believer. The wandering of the mind when reading God’s Word, the issuing from the heart (Mark 7:21) of evil thoughts when we are engaged in prayer, the horrid images which sometimes come before us in the sleep-state— to name no others—are so many examples of being “brought into captivity to the law of sin.” “If the evil principle of our nature prevails in exciting one evil thought, it has taken us captive. So far it has conquered, and so far are we defeated, and made a prisoner” (Robert Haldane).It is the consciousness of this warring within him and this being brought into captivity to sin, which causes the believer to exclaim, “O wretched man that I am!” This is a cry brought about by a deep realization of indwelling sin. It is the confession of one who knows that in his natural man there dwelleth no good thing. It is the mournful plaint of one who has discovered something of the horrible sink of iniquity which is in his own heart. It is the groan of a divinely-enlightened man who now hates himself—his natural self—and longs for deliverance.This moan, “O wretched man that I am,” expresses the normal experience of the Christian, and any Christian who does not so moan is in an abnormal and unhealthy state spiritually. The man who does not utter this cry daily is either so out of communion with Christ, or so ignorant of the teaching of Scripture, or so deceived about his actual condition, that he knows not the corruptions of his own heart and the abject failure of his own life.The one who bows to the solemn and searching teaching of God’s Word, the one who there learns the awful wreckage which sin has wrought in the human constitution, the one who sees the exalted standard of holiness which God has set before us, cannot fail to discover what a vile wretch he is. If he is given to behold how far short he falls of attaining to God’s standard; if, in the light of the divine sanctuary, he discovers how little he resembles the Christ of God; then will he find this language most suited to express his godly sorrow. If God reveals to him the coldness of his love, the pride of his heart, the wanderings of his mind, the evil that defiles his godliest acts, he will cry, “O wretched man that I am.” If he is conscious of his ingratitude, of how little he appreciates God’s daily mercies; if he marks the absence of that deep and genuine fervor which ought ever to characterize his praise and worship of that One who is “glorious in holiness;” if he recognizes that sinful spirit of rebellion, which so often causes him to murmur or at least chafe against the dispensations of God in his daily life; if he attempts to tabulate not only the sins of commission but the sins of omission, of which he is daily guilty, he will indeed cry, “O wretched man that I am.”Nor is it only the “back-slidden” Christian, now convicted, who will mourn thus. The one who is truly in communion with Christ, will also emit this groan, and emit it daily and hourly. Yea, the closer he draws to Christ, the more will he discover the corruptions of his old nature, and the more earnestly will he long to be delivered from it. It is not until the sunlight floods a room that the grime and dust are fully revealed. So, it is only as we really come into the presence of Him who is the light, that we are made aware of the filth and wickedness which indwell us, and which defile every part of our being. And such a discovery will make each of us cry, “O wretched man that I am!”“But,” inquires someone, “does not communion with Christ produce rejoicing rather than mourning?” We answer, It produces both. It did with Paul. In verse 22 of our chapter he says, “I delight in the law of God.” Yet only two verses later he cries, “O wretched man that I am!” Nor does this passage stand alone. In 2 Corinthians 6 the same apostle says, “As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (v. 10). Sorrowful because of his failures, because of his daily sins. Rejoicing because of the grace which still bore with him, and because of the blessed provision which God has made even for the sins of His saints. So again in Romans 8:1 after declaring, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,” and after saying, “The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (vv. 16-17); the apostle adds, “But ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (v. 23) Similar is the teaching of the apostle Peter, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations” (1 Pet. 1:6). Sorrow and groaning, then, are not absent from the highest spirituality.In these days of Laodicean complacency and pride, there is considerable talk and much boasting about communion with Christ, but how little manifestation of it do we behold! Where there is no sense of utter unworthiness, where there is no mourning over the total depravity of our nature, where there is no sorrowing over our lack of conformity to Christ, where there is no groaning over being brought into captivity to sin; in short, where there is no crying, “O wretched man that I am,” it is greatly to be feared that there is no fellowship with Christ at all.When Abraham walked with the Lord, he exclaimed, “Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes. (Gen. 18:27) When Job came face to face with God, he said, “Behold I am vile” (40:4), and again, “I abhor myself.” (42:6) When Isaiah entered the divine Presence, he cried, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.” (Isa. 6:5) When Daniel had that wondrous vision of Christ (Dan. 10:5-6), he declared, “There remained no strength in me: for comeliness was turned in me into corruption.” (v.8) And in one of the last epistles by the beloved apostle to the Gentiles, we read, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief’ (1 Tim. 1:15). These utterances proceeded not from unregenerate men, but came from the lips of God’s saints. Nor were they the confessions of back-slidden believers: rather were they voiced by the most eminent of the Lord’s people. Where, today, shall we find any who are fit to be placed along side of Abraham, Job, Isaiah, Daniel and Paul? Where indeed! And yet, these were the men who were so conscious of their vileness and unworthiness! saying, “The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (vv. 16-17); the apostle adds, “But ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (v. 23) Similar is the teaching of the apostle Peter, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations” (1 Pet. 1:6). Sorrow and groaning, then, are not absent from the highest spirituality.“O wretched man that I am.” This then is the language of a regenerate soul. It is the confession of the normal (undeceived and undeluded) Christian. The substance of it may be found not only in the recorded utterances of Old and New Testament saints, but as well, in the writings of the most eminent Christians who have lived during the last five hundred years. Different indeed were the confessions and witnessings borne by eminent saints of the past from the ignorant and arrogant boastings of modern Laodiceans! It is refreshing to turn from the present-day biographies to those written long ago. Ponder the following excerpts:Mr. Bradford, of holy memory, who was martyred in the reign of bloody queen Mary, in a letter to a fellow-prisoner in another penitentialy, subscribed himself thus: “The sinful John Bradford: a very painted hypocrite: the most miserable, hard-hearted, and unthankful sinner, John Bradford.” (1555 A.D.)Godly Rutherford wrote, “This body of sin and corruption embitters and poisons our enjoyment. Oh that I were where I shall sin no more.” (1650 A.D.)Bishop Berkeley wrote, “I cannot pray, but I sin; I cannot preach, but I sin; I cannot administer, nor receive the holy sacrament, but I sin. My very repentance needs to be repented of: and the tears I shed need washing in the blood of Christ.” (1670 A.D.)Jonathan Edwards, in whose home died that remarkable man Mr. David Brainerd (the first missionary to the Indians, and whose devotion to Christ was witnessed to by all who knew him), and with whom he was intimately acquainted, says in his “Memoirs of Mr. Brainerd,” “His religious illuminations, affections, and comfort, seemed to a great degree to be attended with evangelical humiliation; consisting in a sense of his own utter insufficiency, despicableness, and odiousness; with an answering disposition and frame of heart. How deeply affected was he almost continually with his great defects in religion; with his vast distance from that spirituality and holy frame of mind that become a child of God; with his ignorance, pride, deadness, barrenness! He was not only affected with the remembrance of his former sinfulness, before his conversion, but with the sense of his present vileness and pollution. He was not only disposed to think other saints better than he; yea to look on himself as the worst and least of saints; but, very often, as the vilest and worst of mankind.”Jonathan Edwards himself, than whom few men have been more honored of God, either in their spiritual attainments or in the extent to which God has used them in blessing to others, near the end of his life wrote thus: “When I look into my heart and take a view of its wickedness, it looks like an abyss infinitely deeper than hell. And it appears to me, that, were it not for free grace, exalted and raised up to the infinite height of all the fulness and glory of the great Jehovah, I should appear sunk down in my sins below hell itself; far below the sight of everything, but the eye of sovereign grace, that alone can pierce down to such a depth. And it is affecting to think how ignorant I was, when a young Christian [alas, that so many older Christians are still ignorant of it.—A.W.P.], of the bottomless depths of wickedness, pride, hypocrisy and deceit left in my heart” (1743 A.D.).Augustus Toplady, author of “Rock of Ages,” wrote thus in his private diary under December 31, 1767—“Upon a review of the past year, I desire to confess that my unfaithfulness has been exceeding great; my sins still greater; God’s mercies greater than both.” And again, “My short-comings and my mis-doings, my unbelief and want of love, would sink me into the lowest hell, was not Jesus my righteousness and my Redeemer.”Listen to the words of that godly woman, the wife of that eminent missionary A. Judson: “Oh how I rejoice that I am out of the whirlpool! Too gay, too trifling, for a missionary’s wife! That may be, but after all, gaiety is my lightest sin. It is my coldness of heart, my listlessness, my want of faith, my spiritual inefficiency and inertness, by love of self, the inherent and every-day pampered sinfulness of my nature, that makes me such a mere infant in the cause of Christ—not the attractions of the world.”John Newton, writer of that blessed hymn, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see;” when referring to the expectations which he cherished at the outset of his Christian life, wrote thus: “But alas! these my golden expectations have been like South Sea dreams. I have lived hitherto a poor sinner, and I believe I shall die one. Have I, then, gained nothing? Yes, I have gained that which I once would rather have been without! Such accumulated proof of the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of my heart, as I hope by the Lord’s blessing has, in some measure, taught me to know what I mean when I say, Behold, I am vile. . .I was ashamed of myself, when I began to seek it, I am more ashamed now.James Ingliss (Editor of Wayrnarks in the Wilderness) at the close of his life, wrote Mr. J.H. Brookes, “As I am brought to take a new view of the end, my life seems so made up of squandered opportunities, and so barren of results, that it is sometimes very painful; but grace comes in to meet it all, and He will be glorified in my humiliation also” (1872). On which Mr. Brookes remarked, “How like him, and how unlike the boastings of those who are glorying in their fancied attainments!”One more quotation: this time from a sermon by the late C. H. Spurgeon. Said the prince of preachers, “There are some professing Christians who can speak of themselves in terms of admiration; but, from my inmost heart, I loathe such speeches more and more every day that I live. Those who talk in such a boastful fashion must be constituted very differently from me. While they are congratulating themselves, I have to lie humbly at the foot of Christ’s Cross, and marvel that I am saved at all, for I know that I am saved. I have to wonder that I do not believe Christ more, and equally wonder that I am privileged to believe in Him at all—to wonder that I do not love Him more, and equally to wonder that I love Him at all—to wonder that I am not holier, and equally to wonder that I have any desire to be holy at all considering what a polluted debased, depraved nature I find still within my soul, notwithstanding all that divine grace has done in me. If God were ever to allow the fountains of the great deeps of depravity to break up in the best man that lives, he would make as bad a devil as the devil himself is. I care nothing for what these boasters say concerning their own perfections; I feel sure that they do not know themselves, or they could not talk as they often do. There is tinder enough in the saint who is nearest to heaven to kindle another hell if God should but permit a spark to fall upon it. In the very best of men there is an infernal and well-nigh infinite depth of depravity. Some Christians never seem to find this out. I almost wish that they might not do so, for it is a painful discovery for anyone to make; but it has the beneficial effect of making us cease from trusting in ourselves, and causing us to glory only in the Lord.”Other testimonies from the lips and pens of men equally pious and eminent might be given, but sufficient have been quoted to show what cause the saints of all ages have had for making their own these words, “O wretched man that I am.” A few words now on the closing verse of Romans 7.“Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” “Who shall deliver me?” This is not the language of despair, but of earnest desire for help from without and above himself. That from which the apostle desired to be delivered is termed “the body of this death.” This is a figurative expression for the carnal nature is termed “the body of sin,” and as having “members.” (Rom. 7:23) We therefore take the apostle’s meaning to be, Who shall deliver me from this deadly and noxious burden—my sinful self!In the next verse the apostle answers his question, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” It should be obvious to any impartial mind that this looks forward to the future. His question was, “Who shall deliver me?” His answer is, Jesus Christ will. How this exposes the error of those who teach a present “deliverance” from the carnal nature by the power of the Holy Spirit. In His answer, the apostle says nothing about the Holy Spirit; instead, he mentions only “Jesus Christ our Lord.” It is not by the present work of the Spirit in us that Christians will be delivered “from this body of death,” but by the yet future coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for us. It is then that this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption.But, as though to remove all doubt that this “deliverance” is future, the apostle concludes by saying, “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” Let every reader note carefully that this comes after he had thanked God that he would be “delivered.” The last part of verse 25 sums up what he had said in the second part of Romans 7. It describes the Christian’s dual life. The new nature serves the law of God; the old nature, to the end of history, will serve “the law of sin.” That it was so with Paul himself is clear from what he wrote at the close of his life, when he termed himself “the chief’ of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). That was not the exaggeration of evangelical fervor, still less was it the mock modesty of hypocrisy. It was the assured conviction, the felt experience, the settled consciousness of one who saw deeply into the depths of corruption within himself, and who knew how far, far short he attained to the standard of holiness which God set before him. Such, too, will be the consciousness and confession of every other Christian who is not blinded by conceit. And the outcome of such a consciousness will be to make him long more ardently and thank God more fervently for the promised deliverance at the return of our Savior and Lord, when He shall “change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself’ (Phil. 3:2 1); and having done so, He will “present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24). Hallelujah, what a Savior!It is remarkable that the only other time the word “wretched” (the only other time in the Greek too) is found in the New Testament occurs in Revelation 3:17, where to the Laodiceans Christ says, and knowest not that thou art wretched!” Their boast was that they had “need of nothing.” They were so puffed up with pride, so satisfied with their attainments, that they knew not their wretchedness. And is not this what we witness on every hand today? Is it not evident that we are now living in the Laodicean period of the history of Christendom? Many were conscious of the “need,” but now they fancy they have received “the second blessing,” or “the baptism of the Spirit,” or that they have entered into “victory;” and, fancying this, they fondly imagine that their “need” has been met. And the proof of this is, they are the very ones who “know not” that they are “wretched.” With an air of spiritual superiority they will tell you that they have “got out of Romans 7 into Romans 8.” With pitiable complacency they will say that Romans 7 no longer depicts their experience. With smug satisfaction they will look down in pity upon the Christian who cries, “O wretched man that I am,” and like the Pharisee in the temple, they will thank God that it is otherwise with them. Poor blinded souls! It is to just such that the Son of God here says, “And knowest not that thou art wretched.” We say “blinded” souls for mark it is to these Laodiceans that Christ says, “Anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest SEE!” (Rev. 3:18) It is to be observed that in the second half of Romans 7 the apostle speaks in the singular number. This is striking and most blessed. The Holy Spirit would intimate to us that the highest attainments in grace do not exempt the Christian from the painful experience there described. The apostle portrays with a master pen—himself sitting for the picture—the spiritual struggles of the child of God. He illustrates by a reference to his own personal experience the ceaseless conflict which is waged between the antagonistic natures in the one who has been born again.May God in His mercy so deliver us from the spirit of pride which now defiles the air of modern Christendom, and grant us such an humbling view of our own uncleanness that we shall join the apostle in crying with ever-deepening fervor, “O wretched man that I am!” Yea, may God vouchsafe to both writer and reader such a view of their own depravity and unworthiness that they may indeed grovel in the dust before Him, and there praise Him for His wondrous grace to such hell-deserving sinners.

Bearing the Rod Man

by A.W. Pink

“Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). How can it be otherwise, living as he is in a world which is under the curse that Adam’s sin entailed, and, what is worse, under God’s judgment because of its casting out of His beloved Son. Yet the subject of “trouble” needs to be “rightly divided” if we are to properly heed that exhortation, “Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17), an important part of which consists in understanding the meaning and message of our Father to us in all the “trouble” which we encounter and experience. As we turn to the Holy Scriptures for light upon this subject of Trouble, Suffering, Affliction, Tribulation, Persecution etc., we discover two distinct and different lines of Truth thereon, running all trough the Word. On the one hand we read that, “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22), parallel with which are such passages as Luke 6:26, 2 Timothy 3:12 etc. But on the other hand, we read that “the curse causeless shall not come” (Prov. 26:2), that God does not “afflict willingly” (Lamentations 3:33), and that “if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged” (1 Cor. 11:31). Much of the “trouble” and “affliction” experienced by us, we bring upon ourselves, through our own folly. We see this plainly exemplified in the natural realm: how many are now suffering bodily ills through intemperate eating and drinking: how many are nervous wrecks as the result of “burning the candle at both ends”! The same principle holds good in the spiritual realm: the chastening rod of God is upon many of His children because of their self-will and self-pleasing: some of them are passing through sore financial straits because their “sins have withholden” God’s temporal mercies (Jeremiah 5:25); still others, who have been favored with clear and definite light from God as to a certain course of duty—e.g. separating themselves from religious associations which dishonor Christ—and because they have not walked therein, the Lord has “hedged up their way with thorns” (Hosea 2:6). Nevertheless, it would be a serious mistake to draw the inference that every time we see a suffering Christian, we behold one who has seriously displeased God, and therefore is now being severely chastised by Him. It would be wrong to form such a conclusion concerning every case, because trouble and suffering issue from other causes, and are sent by God for other purposes than the reproof of sin—sent sometimes to experimentally fit the recipient for greater and higher usefulness in the service of Christ: compare 2 Corinthians 1:4. Now from what has been pointed out above, it should be quite clear that real exercise of heart is called for from each one of us whenever painful trials come upon us; that we need to get down before God, and cry, “show me wherefore Thou contendedest with me” (Job 10:2). To take this attitude is the part of wisdom, for if God be dealing with us over something that has displeased Him, and we fail to humble ourselves before Him and learn of Him what it is which is now choking the channel of His highest blessing toward us, and obtain grace from Him to put right what is wrong, then the chastening “profits” us not, and further and increased chastisement must be our portion; for it is not until we are “exercised thereby,” exercised in conscience, that we have any promise it will issue in “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Heb. 12:11). If the “trouble” through which we are passing at any period of our lives be a reproof from God because of our sins or unfaithfulness, and instead of suspecting that He is displeased with us and taking our place in the dust before Him, begging Him to put His finger on the festering sore in our hearts: if instead, we proudly imagine that there is nothing wrong in our lives, that we have given God no cause to smite us, and complacently assume that we are suffering only for “righteousness’ sake,” and draw comfort from such promises as Matthew 5:11, 12, we are deceived by Satan, and are but “forsaking our own mercy” (Jonah 2:8). It is written, He that covereth his sins shall not prosper” (Prov. 28:13). Thus, whenever “trouble” comes upon a Christian it is always the safest policy to come to the Lord and say, “Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred” (Job 5:24). From what has been said above, it will be seen that it often falls to the lot of God’s servants to perform a duty which is most unpleasant to the flesh. When they come into contact with a Brother or Sister who is passing through deep waters, their natural desire is to administer comfort, but in some instances (at least) to do so would be guilty of “healing also the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly”: and how is this done? The same verse tells us, by “saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14). That was what the ‘false prophets” had done to Israel, and that was the very thing which carnal Israel desired: their demand was, “Prophesy not unto us right things, speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits” (Isa. 30:10); and human nature has not changed any since then!It is a thankless task for any true servant of Christ today to be faithful to his Master, and faithful to the souls of those with whom he deals. Not that God requires him to think the worst of every case that comes to his notice, but that it is his burden duty to exhort each one to act on Job 10:2. But if he does do so, he may be assured at the beginning, that in the majority of cases he will be looked upon as harsh, hypercritical, unkind, like one of Job’s censorious comforters; for there are few indeed who have an honest heart, are ready to know the worst about themselves, and are willing to be cut by the knife of God’s Word. The great majority want only comfort , the “promises” of Scripture, the message of “Peace, peace.But do not the Promises of God belong unto His children? Certainly they do: but here too “there is a season, and a time to every purpose” (Eccl. 3:1): there is a time when we may rightfully draw consolation and strength from the promises, and there is a time when we may not legitimately do so. When all is right between our souls and God, when every known sin has been confessed, and forsaken in sincere purpose of heart, then may we righteously draw milk from the breasts of Divine consolation. But just as there are times when it would be injurious for us to eat some of the things we do when we are well, so to take unto ourselves comfort from the Divine promises while sin is cherished in our hearts, is baneful and sinful. The above (now slightly revised) recently sent by us in a letter to one passing through deep waters. It occurred to us that it might be a timely word for others. Many are now in the fiery furnace, and few indeed are there capable of speaking to them a word in season. It is not sufficient to bid them “Trust in God,” and assure them that brighter days are ahead. The conscience needs to be searched; the wound must be probed and cleansed, before it is ready for “the balm of Gilead”; we must humble ourselves “beneath the mighty hand of God” (1 Pet. 5:6), if we are to be exalted again by Him in “due time.” May the Lord be pleased to bless the above unto some of “His own”.

Divine Chastisement

By A.W. Pink

"Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor
faint when thou are rebuked of him" (HEBREWS 12:5).

It is of first importance that we learn to draw a sharp distinction between Divine punishment and Divine chastisement - important for maintaining the honour and glory of God, and for the peace of mind of the Christian. The distinction is very simple, yet is it often lost sight of. God's people can never by any possibility be punished for their sins, for God has already punished them at the Cross. The Lord Jesus, our Blessed Substitute, suffered the full penalty of all our guilt, hence it is written "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." Neither the justice nor the love of God will permit Him to again exact payment of what Christ discharged to the full. The difference between punishment and chastisement lies not in the nature of the sufferings of the afflicted: it is most important to bear this in mind. There is a threefold distinction between the two. First, the character in which God acts. In the former God acts as Judge, in the latter as Father. Sentence of punishment is the act of a judge, a penal sentence passed on those charged with guilt. Punishment can never fall upon the child of God in this judicial sense because his guilt was all transferred to Christ: "Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree."

But while the believer's sins cannot be punished, while the Christian cannot be condemned (Rom. 8:3), yet he may be chastised. The Christian occupies an entirely different position from the non-Christian: he is a member of the Family of God. The relationship which now exists between him and God is that of parent and child; and as a son he must be disciplined for wrongdoing. Folly is bound up in the hearts of all God's children, and the rod is necessary to rebuke, to subdue, to humble.

The second distinction between Divine punishment and Divine chastisement lies in the recipients of each. The objects of the former are His enemies. The subjects of the latter are His children. As the Judge of all the earth, God will yet take vengeance on all His foes. As the Father of His family, God maintains discipline over all His children. The one is judicial, the other parental.

A third distinction is seen in The design of each: the one is retributive, the other remedial. The one flows from His anger, the other from His love. Divine punishment is never sent for the good of sinners, but for the honouring of God's law and the vindicating of His government. But Divine chastisement is sent for the well-being of His children: "We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness" (Heb. 12:9-10).

The above distinction should at once rebuke the thoughts which are so generally entertained among Christians. When the believer is smarting under the rod let him not say, God is now punishing me for my sins. That can never be. That is most dishonouring to the blood of Christ. God is correcting thee in love, not smiting in wrath. Nor should the Christian regard the chastening of the Lord as a sort of necessary evil to which he must bow as submissively as possible. No, it proceeds from God's goodness and faithfulness, and is one of the greatest blessings for which we have to thank Him. Chastisement evidences our Divine son-ship: the father of a family does not concern himself with those on the outside: but those within he guides and disciplines to make them conform to his will. Chastisement is designed for our good, to promote our highest interests. Look beyond the rod to the All-wise hand that wields it!

The Hebrew Christians to whom this Epistle was first addressed were passing through a great fight of afflictions, and miserably were they conducting themselves. They were the little remnant out of the Jewish nation who had believed on their Messiah during the days of His public ministry, plus those Jews who had been converted under the preaching of the apostles. It is highly probable that they had expected the Messianic Kingdom would at once be set up on earth and that they would be allotted the chief places of honour in it. But the Millennium had not begun, and their own lot became increasingly bitter. They were not only hated by the Gentiles, but ostracized by their unbelieving brethren, and it became a hard matter for them to make even a bare living. Providence held a frowning face. Many who had made a profession of Christianity had gone back to Judaism and were prospering temporally. As the afflictions of the believing Jews increased, they too were sorely tempted to turn their back upon the new Faith. Had they been wrong in embracing Christianity? Was high Heaven displeased because they had identified themselves with Jesus of Nazareth? Did not their suffering go to show that God no longer regarded them with favour?

Now it is most instructive and blessed to see how the Apostle met the unbelieving reasoning of their hearts. He appealed to their own Scriptures! He reminded them of an exhortation found in Proverbs 3:11-12, and applied it to their case. Notice, first, the words we place in italics: "Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you." This shows that the exhortations of the Old Testament were not restricted to those who lived under the old covenant: they apply with equal force and directness to those of us living under the new covenant. Let us not forget that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable" (2 Tim. 3:16) The Old Testament equally as much as the New Testament was written for our learning and admonition.

Second, mark the tense of the verb in our opening text: "Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh." The Apostle quoted a sentence of the Word written one thousand years previously, yet he does not say "which hath spoken," but "which speaketh." The same principle is illustrated in that sevenfold "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith (not "said") unto the churches" of Rev. 2 and 3. The Holy Scriptures are a living Word in which God is speaking today!

Consider now the words "Ye have forgotten." It was not that these Hebrew Christians were unacquainted with Prov. 3:11 and 12, but they had let them slip. They had forgotten the Fatherhood of God and their relation of Him as His dear children. In consequence they misinterpreted both the manner and design of God's present dealings with them, they viewed His dispensation not in the light of His Love, but regarded them as signs of His displeasure or as proofs of His forgetfulness. Consequently, instead of cheerful submission, there was despondency and despair. Here is a most important lesson for us: we must interpret the mysterious providences of God not by reason or observation, but by the Word. How often we "forget" the exhortation which speaketh unto us as unto children- "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him."

Unhappily there is no word in the English language which is capable of doing justice to the Greek term here. "Paideia" which is rendered "chastening" is only another form of "paidion" which signifies "young children," being the tender word that was employed by the Saviour in John 21:5 and Hebrews 2:13. One can see at a glance the direct connection which exists between the words "disciple" and "discipline": equally close in the Greek is the relation between "children" and "chastening." Son-training would be better. It has reference to God's education, nurture and discipline of His children. It is the Father's wise and loving correction which is in view.

It is true that much chastisement is the rod in the hand of the Father correcting His erring child. But it is a serious mistake to confine our thoughts to this one aspect of the subject. Chastisement is by no means always the scourging of His refractive sons. Some of the saintliest of God's people, some of the most obedient of His children, have been and are the greatest sufferers. Oftentimes God's chastenings instead of being retributive are corrective. They are sent to empty us of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness: they are given to discover to us hidden transgressions, and to teach us the plague of our own hearts. Or again, chastisements are sent to strengthen our faith, to raise us to higher levels of experience, to bring us into a condition of usefulness. Still again, Divine chastisement is sent as a preventative, to keep under pride, to save us from being unduly elated over success in God's service. Let us consider, briefly, four entirely different examples.

DAVID. In his case the rod was laid upon him for grievous sins, for open wickedness. His fall was occasioned by self-confidence and self-righteousness. If the reader will diligently compare the two Songs of David recorded in 2 Samuel 22 and 23, the one written near the beginning of his life, the other near the end, he will be struck by the great difference of spirit manifested by the writer in each. Read 2 Samuel 22:22-25 and you will not be surprised that God suffered him to have such a fall. Then turn to chapter 23, and mark the blessed change. At the beginning of v. 5 there is a heart-broken confession of failure. In vv. 10-12 there is a God-glorifying confession, attributing victory unto the Lord. The severe scourging of David was not in vain.

JOB. Probably he tasted of every kind of suffering which falls to man's lot: family bereavements, loss of property, grievous bodily afflictions came fast, one on top of another. But God's end in it all was that Job should benefit therefrom and be a greater partaker of His holiness. There was not a little of self-satisfaction and self-righteousness in Job at the beginning. But at the end, when He was brought face to face with the thrice Holy One, he "abhorred himself" (42:6). In David's case the chastisement was retributive, in Job's corrective.

ABRAHAM. In him we see an illustration of an entirely different aspect of chastening. Most of the trials to which he was subjected were neither because of open sins nor for the correction of inward faults. Rather were they sent for the development of spiritual graces. Abraham was sorely tried in various ways, but it was in order that faith might be strengthened and that patience might have its perfect work in him. Abraham was weaned from the things of this world, that he might enjoy closer fellowship with Jehovah and become the "friend" of God.

PAUL. "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure (2 Cor. 12:7). This "thorn" was sent not because of failure and sin, but as a preventative against pride. Note the "lest" both at the beginning and end of the verse. The result of this "thorn" was that the beloved apostle was made more conscious of his weakness. Thus, chastisement has for one of its main objects the breaking down of self-sufficiency, the bringing us to the end of our selves.

Now in view of these widely different aspects chastenings which are retributive, corrective, educative, and preventative, how incompetent are we to diagnose, and how great is the folly of pronouncing a judgment concerning others! Let us not conclude when we see a fellow-Christian under the rod of God that he is necessarily being taken to task for his sins. In our next meditation we shall, D.V., consider the spirit in which Divine chastisements are to be received.

Gospel Preaching Commanded

By A.W. Pink

There are those who misrepresent the doctrine of election in this way. Here I am sitting down at my table tonight with my family to tea. It is a cold winter’s night, and outside on the street are some hungry starving tramps and children, and they come and knock on my door and they say, "We are so hungry, Sir, Oh, we are so hungry and cold, and we are starving: won’t you give us something to eat?"Give you something to eat? No, you do not belong here, get off with you." Now people say that is what election means, that God has spread the gospel feast and some poor sinners conscious of their deep need come to the Lord and say, "Have mercy upon me, and the Lord says, "No, you are not among My elect." Now, my friends, that is not the teaching of this Book, nor anything like that. That is absolutely a false representation of God’s truth. I do not believe anything like that, my friends, and I would not insult you by asking you to come here night by night and listen to anything like that.1. Compel them to come inNow then, here is the truth. God has spread the feast but the fact is that nobody is hungry. and nobody wants to come to the feast, and everybody makes an excuse to keep away from the feast. and when they are bidden to come they say, "No, we do not want to, or We are not ready yet." Now God knew that from the beginning, and if God had done nothing more than spread the feast every seat at His table would have been vacant for all eternity! I have no hesitation in saying there is not one man or woman in this church tonight, but who made excuses time after time before you first came to Christ. You are just like the rest. You made excuses. so did I, and if God had done nothing more than just spread the feast every chair would have been vacant, therefore what do you read in that parable in Luke 14? Because the feast was not furnished with guests God sent forth His "servants". Oh, put your glasses on. It does not say "servants", it says God sent forth His "servant" and told Him to "compel" them to come in that His feast might be furnished with guests. And there is not a man or a woman In this church tonight or in any other church that would ever sit down at the marriage-supper of the Lamb unless you had been compelled to come in, and compelled by God.Well, you say, what do you mean by "compelled?" I mean this, that God had to overcome the resistance of your will, God had to overcome the reluctance of your heart, God had to overcome your loving of pleasure more than loving of God, your love of the things of this world more than Christ. I mean that God had to put forth His power and draw you, and if any of you know anything of the Greek or have a Strong’s Concordance, look up that Greek verb for "draw" in John 6:44, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" —It means "use violence". It means to drag by force. There is not a Greek scholar on earth that can challenge that statement—I mean—and back it up with proof. It’s the same Greek word that is used in John 21 when they drew the net to the land full of fishes. They had to pull with all their might for it was full of fishes. They had to drag it, Yes, my friend, and that is how you were brought to Christ. You may not have been conscious of it. you may not have known inside yourself what was taking place, but every last one of us was a rebel against God, fighting against Christ, resisting His Holy Spirit, and God had to put forth almighty power and overcome that resistance and bring us to our knees, and if any of you object to that strong language, then I am here to tell you, you do not believe in the teaching of this Book on the absolute depravity of man.Man is lost, and man is dead in trespasses and sins by nature. Listen, it is not simply that man is sick and needs a little medicine: it is not simply that man is ignorant and needs a little teaching: it is not simply that man is weak and needs a little hope: man is dead, dead in trespasses and sins, and only almighty power from heaven can ever resurrect him and bring him from death unto life. That is the gospel I believe in and I do not preach the gospel because I believe the sinner has power in himself to respond to it. Well, you say, then what is the use of preaching the gospel if men are dead? What is the use of preaching it? I will tell you. Listen! Here was a man with a withered hand, paralyzed, and Christ says. "Stretch forth thine hand"; It was the one thing that he could not do! Christ told him to do a thing that was impossible in himself. Well then you say why did Christ tell him to stretch forth his hand? Because Divine power went with the very word that commanded him to do it! Divine power enabled him to. The man could not do it of himself. If you think that he could you are ready for the lunatic asylum, I don’t not care who you are. Any man or woman here who thinks that that man was able to stretch forth his paralyzed arm by an effort of his own will is ready for the lunatic asylum! How can paralysis move?Well, I will give you something stronger than that. You need something strong today, you need something more than skim-milk, you need strong meat if ever you are going to be built up and grow and become strong in the Lord and the power of His might—Here is a man who is dead and buried and his body has already begun to corrupt so that it stank. There he was in the grave and someone came to that graveside and said, "Lazarus. come forth", and if that someone had been anyone else than God Himself manifest in flesh. he might have stood there till now calling, "Come forth". What on earth was the use of telling a dead man to come forth? None at all, unless the One Who spoke that word had the power to make that word good.Now then my friends, I preach the gospel to sinners, not because I believe the sinner has any power at all in himself to respond to it: I do not believe that any sinner has any capacity in himself whatever. But Christ said, "the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life", and by God’s grace I go forth preaching this Word because it is a word of power, a word of spirit, a word of life. The power is not in the sinner, it is in the Word when God the Holy Spirit is pleased to use it. And my friends, I say in all reverence; if God told me in this Book to go out and preach to the trees. I would go! Yes sir. God once told one of His servants to go and preach to bones and he went. I wonder if you should have gone! Yes, that has a local application as well as a future interpretation prophetically:2. Preach the Gospel to Every CreatureNow the question arises again, why are we to preach the gospel to every creature?—if God has only elected a certain number to be saved? The reason is, because God commands us to do so. Well, but, you say, it does not seem reasonable to me That has got nothing to do with it; your business is to obey God and not to argue with Him. God commands us to preach the gospel to every creature and it means what it says—every creature and it is solemn thing. Every Christian in this room tonight has yet to answer to Christ why he has not done everything in his power to send that gospel to every creature! Yes, I believe in missions—probably stronger than most of you do, and if I preached to you on missions perhaps I would hit you harder than you have been hit yet. The great majority of Gods people who profess to believe in missions, are just playing at them—I make so bold as to say of our evangelical denominations today that we are just playing at missions and that is all. Why my friends. there is almost half of the human race—think of it—in this 20th century—travel so easy and cheap. Bibles printed in almost every language under heaven, and as we sit here tonight there is almost half of the human race that never yet heard of Christ, and we have got to answer to Christ for that yet! You have and I have, Oh. yes, I believe in man’s responsibility. I do not believe in man’s "freedom" but I do in man’s responsibility, and I believe in the Christian’s responsibility in a double way, and everyone of us here tonight has yet got to face Christ and look into those eyes as a flame of fire, and He is going to say to us, I entrusted to you My gospel. It was committed as a "trust" to you, (See 1 Thess. 2:4) It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.Oh, my friends, we are playing at things. We have not begun to take religion seriously, any of us. We profess to believe in the coming of Christ, and we profess to believe that the one reason why Christ has not come back yet is because His Church, His Body, is not yet complete. We believe that when His body is complete He will come back. And my friends, His "body" never, never, will be complete until the last of His elect people will be called out, and His elect people are called out under the preaching of the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit, and if you are really anxious for Christ to come back soon, then you had better be more wide awake to your responsibility in connection with taking or sending the gospel to the heathen!Christ’s word, and it is Christ’s word to us, is "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel", He does not say "Send ye", He says "Go ye", and you have to answer to Christ yet because you have not gone! Well, you say, do you mean by that that everyone of us here tonight ought to go out to the mission field? I have not said that, I am not any man’s judge, Many of you here tonight have a good reason which will satisfy Christ why you have not gone. He gave you work to do here. He put you in a position here. He has given you responsibilities to discharge here, but every Christian who is free to go, and does not go, has got to answer to Christ for it yet."Go ye into all the world." Well then you say, Where am I to go? Oh, that is very easy. You say, easy? Yes, I mean it: it is very easy. There is nothing easier in the world than to know where you ought to begin missionary work. You have it in the first chapter of Acts and the eighth verse: "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem (that is the city in which they were) and in all Judea (that is the State in which their city was), and in Samaria (that is the adjoining State), and unto the uttermost part of the earth", If you want to begin missionary work, you have to begin it in your home-town, and my friends if you are not interested in the salvation of the Chinese in Sydney, then you are not really interested in the salvation of the Chinese in China, and you are only fooling yourselves if you think you are! Oh, I am calling a spade a spade tonight. If you are anxious about the souls of the Chinese in China, then you will be equally anxious about the souls of the Chinese here in Sydney, and I wonder how many in this building tonight have ever made any serious effort to reach the Chinese in Sydney with the gospel! I wonder? I wonder how many here tonight have been round to the Bible House in Sydney and have said to the Manager there, "Do you have any New Testaments in the Chinese language, or do you have any Gospels of John in the Chinese language? How much are they per hundred? or per dozen?" And I wonder how many of you have bought a thousand or a hundred, and then have gone round to the houses in the Chinese quarter and have said, "My friend, this is a little gift that will do your soul good if you will read it."Ah, my friends, we are playing at missions, it is just a farce, that is all! "Go ye" is the first command. Go where? Those around me first. Go what with? The gospel! Well, you say, "Why should I go?" Because God has commanded you to! Well, you say, "What is the use of doing it if He has just elected certain ones?" Because that gospel is the means that God uses to call out His own elect, that is why! You do not know, and I do not know, and nobody here on earth knows, who are God’s elect and who are not. They are scattered over the world, and therefore we are to preach the gospel to every creature, that it may reach the ones that God has marked out among those creatures.

From a sermon preached in Sydney during his Australian ministry in the 1920’s.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

NATURAL MEN

by Jonathan Edwards
Preached to the Stockbridge Indians, February, 1753
Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down
before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, "Sirs what must I do
to be saved?" Acts 16:29-30
We have here and in the context and account of the conversion of the jailer,
which is one of the most remarkable instances of the kind in the Scriptures.
The jailer before seems not only to have been wholly insensible to the things of
religion, but to have been a persecutor, and to have persecuted these very
men, Paul and Silas; though he now comes to them in so earnest a manner,
asking them what he must do to be saved. We are told in the context that all
the magistrates and multitude of the city rose up jointly in a tumult against
them, and took them, and cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep
them safely. Whereupon he thrust them into the inner prison, and made their
feet fast in the stocks. And it is probable he did not act in this merely as the
servant or instrument of the magistrates, but that he joined with the rest of
the people in their rage against them. And that he did what he did urged on by
his own will, as well as the magistrates' commands, which made him execute
their commands with such rigor.
But when Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises at midnight, and there was
suddenly a great earthquake, and God had in so wonderful a manner set open
the prison doors, and every man's bands were loosed, he was greatly terrified.
And in a kind of desperation, he was about to kill himself. But Paul and Silas
crying out to him, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here," then he called
for a light, and sprang in, as we have the account in the text. We may observe:
First, the objects of his concern. He is anxious about his salvation. He is
terrified by his guilt, especially by his guilt in his ill treatment of these
ministers of Christ. He is concerned to escape from that guilty state, the
miserable state he was in by reason of sin.
Second, the sense which he has of the dreadfulness of his present state.
This he manifests in several ways.
1. By his great haste to escape from that state. By his haste to inquire what he
must do. He seems to be urged by the most pressing concern, sensible of his
present necessity of deliverance, without any delay. Before, he was quiet and
secure in his natural state. But now his eyes are opened. He is in the utmost
haste. If the house had been on fire over his head, he could not have asked
more earnestly, or as being in greater haste. He could soon have come to Paul
and Silas, to ask them what he must do, if he had only walked. But he was in
too great haste to walk only, or to run; for he sprang in. He leaped into the
place where they were. He fled from wrath. He fled from the fire of divine
justice, and so hastened, as one that fled for his life.
2. By his behavior and gesture before Paul and Silas. He fell down. That he
fell down before those whom he had persecuted, and thrust into the inner
prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks, shows what was the state of his
mind. It shows some great distress, that makes such an alteration in him, that
brings him to this. He was broken down, as it were, by the distress of his
mind, in a sense of the dreadfulness of his condition.
3. His earnest manner of inquiring of them what he shall do to escape from
this miserable condition, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" So distressed,
that he is brought to be willing to do anything; to have salvation on any terms,
and by any means, however difficult; brought, as it were, to write a blank, and
give it in to God, that God may prescribe his own terms.
Doctrine. Those who are in a natural condition, are in a dreadful condition.
This I shall endeavor to make appear by a particular consideration of the
state and condition of all unregenerate people.
I. As to their actual condition in this world.
II. As to their relations to the future world.
I. The condition of those who are in a natural state, is dreadful in the
PRESENT world.
First, on account of the depraved state of their natures. As men come into the
world, their natures are dreadfully depraved. Man in his primitive state was a
noble piece of divine workmanship; but by the fall it is dreadfully defaced. It
is awful to think that so excellent a creature as man is, should be so ruined.
The dreadfulness of the condition, which unconverted men are in, in this
respect, appears in the following things:
1. The dreadfulness of their depravity appears in that they are so sottishly
blind and ignorant. God gave man a faculty of reason and understanding,
which is a noble faculty. Herein he differs from all other creatures here below.
He is exalted in his nature above them, and is in this respect like the angels,
and is made capable to know God, and to know spiritual and eternal things.
And God gave him understanding for this end, that he might know him, and
know heavenly things and made him as capable to know these things as any
others. But man has debased himself and has lost his glory in this respect. He
has become as ignorant of the excellency of God, as the very beasts. His
understanding is full of darkness. His mind is blind. It is altogether blind to
spiritual things. Men are ignorant of God, and ignorant of Christ, ignorant of
the way of salvation, ignorant of their own happiness, blind in the midst of the
brightest and clearest light, ignorant under all manner of instructions. Rom.
3:17,"The way of peace they have not known." Isa. 27:11,"It is a people of no
understanding." Jer. 4:22,"My people is foolish, they have not known me;
they are sottish children, and have none understanding:" Jer. 5:21,"Hear now
this, O foolish people, and without understanding." Psalm. 95:10, 11,"It is a
people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways; unto
whom I swore in my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest." 1 Cor.
15:34,"Some have not the knowledge of God; I speak this to your shame."
There is a spirit of atheism prevailing in the hearts of men; a strange
disposition to doubt of the very being of God, and of another world, and of
everything which cannot be seen with the bodily eyes. Psalm. 121:1,"The fool
has said in his heart, there is no God." They do not realize that God sees them
when they commit sin, and will call them to an account for it. And therefore, if
they can hide sin from the eyes of men, they are not concerned, but are bold to
commit it. Psalm. 94:7, 8, 9,"Yet they say, the Lord shall not see, neither shall
the God of Jacob regard it. Understand, you brutish among the people; and,
you fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, shall he not hear?
He who formed the eye, shall he not see?" Psalm. 73:11,"They say, How does
God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?" So sottishly
unbelieving are they of future things, of heaven and hell, and will commonly
run the venture of damnation sooner than be convinced. They are stupidly
senseless to the importance of eternal things. How hard to make them believe,
and to give them a real conviction, that to be happy to all eternity is better
than all other good; and to be miserable forever under the wrath of God, is
worse than all other evil. Men show themselves senseless enough in temporal
things; but in spiritual things far more so. Luke 12:56,"You hypocrites, you
can discern the face of the sky, and of the earth; but how is it that you do not
discern this time?" They are very subtle in evil designs, but sottish in those
things which most concern them. Jer. 4:22,"They are wise to do evil, but to do
good they have no knowledge." Wicked men show themselves more foolish
and senseless of what is best for them, than the very brutes. Isa. 1:3,"The ox
knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib; but Israel does not know,
my people does not consider." Jer. 8:7, "Yes, the stork in the heaven knows
her appointed times; and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow observe
the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord."
2. They have no goodness in them. Rom. 7:18, "In me, that is, in my flesh,
dwells no good thing." They have no principle that disposes them to anything
that is good. Natural men have no higher principle in their hearts than selflove.
And herein they do not excel the devils. The devils love themselves, and
love their own happiness, and are afraid of their own misery. And they go no
further. And the devils would be as religious as the best of natural men if they
were in the same circumstances. They would be as moral, and would pray as
earnestly to God, and take as much pains for salvation, if there were the like
opportunity. And as there is no good principle in the hearts of natural men, so
there are never any good exercises of heart, never one good thought, or
motion of heart in them. Particularly, there is no love to God in them. They
never had the least degree of love to the infinitely glorious Being. They never
had the least true respect to the Being that made them, and in whose hand
their breath is, and from whom are all their mercies. However they may seem
to do things at times out of respect to God, and wear a face as though they
honored him, and highly esteemed him, it is all in mere hypocrisy. Though
there may be a fair outside, they are like painted sepulchers. Within, there is
nothing but putrefaction and rottenness. They have no love to Christ, the
glorious Son of God, who is so worthy of their love, and has shown such
wonderful grace to sinners in dying for them. They never did anything out of
any real respect to the Redeemer of the world since they were born. They
never brought forth any fruit to that God who made them and in whom they
live and move and have their being. They never have in any way answered the
end for which they were made. They have hitherto lived altogether in vain,
and to no purpose. They never so much as sincerely obeyed one command of
God; never so much as moved one finger out of a true spirit of obedience to
him, who made them to serve him.
And when they have seemed outwardly to comply with God's commands,
their hearts were not in it. They did not do it out of any spirit of subjection to
God, or any disposition to obey him, but were merely driven to it by fear, or in
some way influenced by their worldly interest. They never gave God the honor
of one of his attributes. They never gave him the honor of his authority by
obeying him. They never gave him the honor of his sovereignty by submitting
to him. They never gave him the honor of his holiness and mercy by loving
him. They never gave him the honor of his sufficiency and faithfulness by
trusting in him. But have looked upon God as one not fit to be believed or
trusted, and have treated him as if he were a liar. 1 John 5:10, "He who
believes not God has made him a liar."
They never so much as heartily thanked God for one mercy they have
received in their whole lives, though God has always maintained them, and
they have always lived upon his bounty. They never so much as once heartily
thanked Christ for coming into the world and dying to give them an
opportunity to be saved. They never would show him so much gratitude as to
receive him, when he has knocked at their door; but have always shut the
door against him, though he has come to knock at their door upon no other
ground but only to offer himself to be their Savior. They never so much as had
any true desires after God or Christ in their whole lives. When God has
offered himself to them to be their portion, and Christ to be the friend of their
souls, they did not desire it. They never desired to have God and Christ for
their portion. They had rather be without them than with them, if they could
avoid going to hell without them. They never had so much as an honorable
thought of God. They always have esteemed earthly things before him. And
notwithstanding all they have heard in the commands of God and Christ, they
have always preferred a little worldly profit or sinful pleasure before them.
3. Unconverted men are in a dreadful condition by reason of the dreadful
wickedness which there is in them.
(1) Sin is a thing of a dreadful nature, and that because it is against an
infinitely great and an infinitely holy God. There is in the nature of man
enmity against God, contempt of God, rebellion against God. Sin rises up as
an enemy against the Most High. It is a dreadful thing for a creature to be an
enemy to the Creator, or to have any such thing in his heart as enmity against
him; as will be very clear, if we consider the difference between God and the
creature, and how all creatures, compared with him, are as the small dust of
the balance, are as nothing, less than nothing, and vanity. There is an infinite
evil in sin. If we saw the hundredth part of the evil there is in sin, it would
make us sensible that those who have any sin, let it be ever so small, are in a
dreadful condition.
(2) The hearts of natural men are exceedingly full of sin. If they had but one
sin in their hearts, it would be sufficient to render their condition very
dreadful. But they have not only one sin, but all manner of sin. There is every
kind of lust. The heart is a mere sink of sin, a fountain of corruption, where
issue all manner of filthy streams. Mark 7:21, 22,"From within, out of the
heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication's, murders, thefts,
covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
foolishness." There is no one lust in the heart of the devil, that is not in the
heart of man. Natural men are in the image of the devil. The image of God is
erased out, and the image of the devil is stamped upon them. God is graciously
pleased to restrain the wickedness of men, principally by fear and respect to
their credit and reputation, and by education. And if it were not for such
restraints as these, there is no kind of wickedness that men would not commit,
whenever it came in their way. The commission of those things, at the mention
of which men are now ready to start, and seem to be shocked when they hear
them read, would be common and general; and earth would be a kind of hell.
What would not natural men do if they were not afraid? Mat. 7:17, "But
beware of men." Men have not only every kind of lust, and wicked and
perverse dispositions in their hearts, but they have them to a dreadful degree.
There is not only pride, but an amazing degree of it: pride, whereby a man is
disposed to set himself even above the throne of God itself. The hearts of
natural men are mere sinks of sensuality. Man is become like a beast in
placing his happiness in sensual enjoyments. The heart is full of the most
loathsome lusts. The souls of natural men are more vile and abominable than
any reptile. If God should open a window in the heart so that we might look
into it, it would be the most loathsome spectacle that ever was set before our
eyes. There is not only malice in the hearts of natural men, but a fountain of it.
Men naturally therefore deserve the language applied to them by Christ, Mat.
3:7,"O generation of vipers;" and Mat. 23:33,"You serpents, you generation
of vipers."
Men, if it were not for fear and other such restraints, would not only commit
all manner of sin, but to what degree, to what length would they not proceed!
What has a natural man to keep him from openly blaspheming God, as much
as any of the devils; yes, from dethroning him, if that were possible, and fear
and other such restraints were out of the way? Yes, would it not be thus with
many of those, who now appear with a fair face, and will speak most of God,
and make many pretenses of worshiping and serving him? The exceeding
wickedness of natural men appears abundantly in the sins they commit,
notwithstanding all these restraints. Every natural man, if he reflects, may see
enough to show him how exceedingly sinful he is. Sin flows from the heart as
constantly as water flows from a fountain. Jer. 6:7, "As a fountain casts out
her waters, so she casts out her wickedness." And this wickedness, that so
abounds in their hearts, has dominion over them. They are slaves to it. Rom.
7:14,"Sold under sin." They are so under the power of sin, that they are
driven on by their lusts in a course against their own conscience, and against
their own interest. They are hurried on to their own ruin, and that at the same
time their reason tells them, it will probably be their ruin. 2 Pet. 2:14,"Cannot
cease from sin." On account of wicked men's being so under the power of sin,
the heart of man is said to be desperately wicked. Jer. 17:9 and Eph.
2:1,"Dead in trespasses and sins."
(3) The hearts of natural men are dreadfully hard and incorrigible. There is
nothing but the mighty power of God will move them. They will cleave to sin,
and go on in sin, let what will be done with them. Pro. 27:22,"Though you
should bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his
foolishness depart from him." There is nothing that will awe our hearts; and
there is nothing that will draw them to obedience: let there be mercies or
afflictions, threatenings or gracious calls and invitations, frowning, or
patience and long-suffering, or fatherly counsels and exhortations. Isa.
26:10,"Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the
majesty of the Lord."
Secondly. The relative state of those who are in an unconverted condition is
dreadful. This will appear if we consider,
1. Their relative state with respect to GOD; and that because,
(1) They are without God in the world. They have no interest or part in God.
He is not their God. He has declared he will not be their God (Hos. 1:9). God
and believers have a mutual covenant relation and right to each other. They
are his people, and he is their God. But he is not the covenant God of those
who are in an unconverted state. There is a great alienation and estrangement
between God and the wicked. He is not their Father and portion. They have
nothing to challenge of God, they have no right to any one of his attributes.
The believer can challenge a right in the power of God, in his wisdom and
holiness, his grace and love. All are made over to him, to be for his benefit.
But the unconverted can claim no right in any of God's perfections. They have
no God to protect and defend them in this evil world: to defend them from sin,
or from Satan, or any evil. They have no God to guide and direct them in any
doubts or difficulties, to comfort and support their minds under afflictions.
They are without God in all their affairs, in all the business they undertake, in
their family affairs, and in their personal affairs, in their outward concerns,
and in the concerns of their souls.
How can a creature be more miserable than to be separated from the Creator
and to have no God whom he can call his own God? He is wretched indeed,
who goes up and down in the world, without a God to take care of him, to be
his guide and protector, and to bless him in his affairs. The very light of
nature teaches that a man's God is his all. Jdg. 18:24, "You have taken away
my gods, and what have I more?" There is but one God, and in him they have
no right. They are without that God, whose will must determine their whole
well being, both here and forever. That unconverted men are without God
shows that they are liable to all manner of evil. They are liable to the power of
the devil, to the power of all manner of temptation, for they are without God
to protect them. They are liable to be deceived and seduced into erroneous
opinions, and to embrace damnable doctrines. It is not possible to deceive the
saints in this way. But the unconverted may be deceived. They may become
papists, or heathens, or atheists. They have nothing to secure them from it.
They are liable to be given up of God to judicial hardness of heart. They
deserve it. And since God is not their God, they have no certainty that God
will not inflict this awful judgment upon them. As they are without God in the
world, they are liable to commit all manner of sin, and even the unpardonable
sin itself. They cannot be sure they shall not commit that sin. They are liable
to build up a false hope of heaven, and so to go hoping to hell. They are liable
to die senseless and stupid, as many have died. They are liable to die in such a
case as Saul and Judas did, fearless of hell. They have no security from it.
They are liable to all manner of mischief, since they are without God. They
cannot tell what shall befall them, nor when they are secure from anything.
They are not safe one moment. Ten thousand fatal mischiefs may befall them,
that may make them miserable forever.
They, who have God for their God, are safe from all such evils. It is not
possible that they should befall them. God is their covenant God, and they
have his faithful promise to be their refuge. But what mischief is there which
may not befall natural men? Whatever hopes they may have may be
disappointed. Whatever fair prospect there may seem to be of their
conversion and salvation, it may vanish away. They may make great progress
towards the kingdom of God, and yet come short at last. They may seem to be
in a very hopeful way to be converted, and yet never be converted. A natural
man is sure of nothing. He is sure of no good, nor is he sure of escaping any
evil. It is therefore a dreadful condition that a natural man is in. They, who
are in a natural state, are lost. They have wandered from God, and they are
like lost sheep, that have wandered from their shepherd. They are poor
helpless creatures in a howling wilderness, and have no shepherd to protect or
to guide them. They are desolate, and exposed to innumerable fatal mischief's.
(2) They are not only without God, but the wrath of God abides upon them.
John 3:36, "He who believes not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of
God abides on him." There is no peace between God and them, but God is
angry with them every day. He is not only angry with them, but that to a
dreadful degree. There is a fire kindled in God's anger; it burns like fire.
Wrath abides upon them, which if it should be executed, would plunge them
into the lowest hell, and make them miserable there to all eternity. They have
provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger. God has been angry with them
every since they began to sin. He has been provoked by them every day, every
since they exercised any reason. And he is provoked by them more and more
every hour. The flame of his wrath is continually burning. There are many
now in hell that never provoked God more than they, nor so much as many of
them. Wherever they go, they go about with the dreadful wrath of God
abiding on them. They eat, and drink, and sleep under wrath. How dreadful a
condition therefore are they in! It is the most awful thing for the creature to
have the wrath of his Creator abiding on him. The wrath of God is a thing
infinitely dreadful. The wrath of a king is as the roaring of a lion. But what is
the wrath of a king, who is but a worm of the dust, to the wrath of the
infinitely great and dreadful God? How dreadful is it to be under the wrath of
the First Being, the Being of beings, the great Creator and mighty possessor of
heaven and earth! How dreadful is it for a person to go about under the wrath
of God, who gave him being, and in who he lives and moves, who is
everywhere present, and without whom he cannot move a step, nor draw a
breath! Natural men, inasmuch as they are under wrath, are under a curse.
God's wrath and curse are continually upon them. They can have no
reasonable comfort, therefore, in any of their enjoyments; for they do not
know but that they are given them in wrath, and shall be curses to them, and
not blessings. As it is said in Job 18:15,"Brimstone shall be scattered upon his
habitation." How can they take any comfort in their food, or in their
possessions, when they do not know but all are given them to fit them for the
slaughter.
2. Their relative state will appear dreadful, if we consider how they stand
related to the DEVIL.
(1) Those who are in a natural state are the children of the devil. As the saints
are the children of God, so the ungodly are the children of the devil. 1 John
3:10,"In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil."
Mat 13:38, 39,"The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the
kingdom: but the tares are the children of wicked one. The enemy that sowed
them is the devil." John 8:44,"You are of your father, the devil, and the lusts
of your father you will do." They are, as it were, begotten of the devil. They
proceed from him. 1 John 3:8,"He who commits sin, is of the devil." As Adam
begat a son in his own likeness, so are wicked men in the likeness and image of
the devil. They acknowledge this relation, and own themselves children of the
devil, by consenting that he should be their father. They subject themselves to
him, hearken to this counsels, as children hearken to the counsels of a father.
They learn of him to imitate him, and do as he does, as children learn to
imitate their parents. John 8:38,"I speak that which I have seen with my
Father, and you do that which you have seen with your father." How awful a
state is this! How dreadful is it to be a child of the devil, the spirit of darkness,
the prince of hell, that wicked, malignant, and cruel spirit! To have anything
to do with him is very dreadful. It would be accounted a dreadful, frightful
thing only to meet the devil, to have him appear to a person in a visible shape.
How dreadful then must it be to be his child; how dreadful for any person to
have the devil for his father!
(2) They are the devil's captives and servants. Man before his fall was in a
state of liberty; but now he has fallen into Satan's hands. The devil has got the
victory and carried him captive. Natural men are in Satan's possession and
they are under his dominion. They are brought by him into subjection to his
will, to go at his bidding, and do what he commands. 2 Tim. 2:26,"Taken
captive by him at his will." The devil rules over ungodly men. They are all his
slaves, and do his drudging. This argues their state to be dreadful. Men
account it an unhappy state of life to be slaves; and especially to be slaves to a
bad master, to one who is very hard, unreasonable, and cruel. How miserable
do we look upon those people, who are taken captive by the Turks, or other
such barbarous nations, and put by them to the lowest and most cruel slavery,
and treated no better than they treat their cattle! But what is this to being
taken captive by the devil, the prince of hell, and made a slave to him? Had
not a man better be a slave to anyone on earth than to the devil? The devil is,
of all masters, the most cruel, and treats his servants the worst. He puts them
to the vilest service, to that which is the most dishonorable of any in the world.
No work is so dishonorable as the practice of sin. The devil puts his servants
to such work as debases them below the dignity of human nature. They must
make themselves like beasts to do that work to serve their filthy lusts. And
besides the lowliness of the work, it is a very hard service. The devil causes
them to serve him at the expense of the peace of their own conscience, and
oftentimes at the expense of their reputation, at the expense of their estates,
and shortening of their days. The devil is a cruel master; for the service upon
which he puts his slaves is to undo themselves. He keeps them hard at work
day and night, to work their own ruin. He never intends to give them any
reward for their pains, but their pains are to work out their own everlasting
destruction. It is to gather fuel and kindle the fire for themselves to be
tormented in to all eternity.
(3) The soul of a natural man is the habitation of the devil. The devil is not
only their father and rules over them, but he dwells in them. It is a dreadful
thing for a man to have the devil near him, often coming to him. But it is a
more dreadful thing to have him dwell with a man, to take up his constant
abode with him; and more dreadful yet to have him dwell in him, to take up
his abode in his heart. But thus it is with every natural man. He takes up his
abode in his heart. As the soul of a godly man is the habitation of the Spirit of
God, so is the soul of a wicked man the habitation of unclean spirits. As the
soul of a godly man is the temple of God, so the soul of a wicked man is the
synagogue of Satan. A wicked man's soul is in Scripture called Satan's house,
and Satan's palace. Mat. 12:29,"How can one enter into a strong man' s
house?" meaning the devil. And Luke 11:21,"When a strong man armed
keeps his palace, his goods are in peace." Satan not only lives, but reigns, in
the heart of a wicked man. He has not only taken up his abode there, but he
has set up his throne there. The heart of a wicked man, is the place of the
devil's rendezvous. The doors of a wicked man's heart are open to devils. They
have free access there, though they are shut against God and Jesus Christ.
There are many devils, no doubt, that have to do with one wicked man, and
his heart is the place where they meet. The soul of a wicked man is, as it was
said of Babylon, the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and
a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Thus dreadful is the condition of a
natural man by reason of the relation in which he stands to the devil.
II. The state of unconverted men is very dreadful, if we consider its relation to
the FUTURE world.
Our state here is not lasting, but transitory. We are pilgrims and strangers
here, and are principally designed for a future world. We continue in this
present state but a short time; but we are to be in that future state to all
eternity. And therefore men are to be denominated either happy or miserable,
chiefly with regard to that future state. It matters but little comparatively
what our state is here, but it will continue but a short time; it is nothing to
eternity. But that man is a happy man who is entitled to happiness, and he is
miserable who is in danger of misery, in his eternal state. Prosperity or
adversity in the present state alters them but very little because this state is of
so short continuance.
First, those who are in a natural condition, have no title to any inheritance in
another world. There are glorious things in another world. There are
unsearchable riches, an unspeakable and inconceivable abundance; but they
have nothing to do with it. Heaven is a world of glory and blessedness. But
they have no right to the least portion of those blessings. If they should die and
go out of the world as they are, they would go destitute, having no inheritance,
no friend, no enjoyments to go to. They will have no God to whom they may
go, no Redeemer to receive their departing souls, no angel to be a ministering
spirit to them, to take care of them, to guard or defend them, no interest in
that Redeemer, who has purchased those blessings. What is said of the
Ephesians is true of those who are in a natural condition." At that time you
were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in
the world." What a dreadful case they are in, who live in the world having no
hope, without any title to any benefits hereafter, and without any ground to
hope for any good in their future and eternal state!
Second, natural men are in a dreadful condition because of the misery to
which they are exposed in the FUTURE world. This will be obvious, if we
consider,
1. How great the misery is of which they are in danger.
2. How great is their danger of this misery.
1. How great the misery is of which they are in danger. It is great in two
respects:
(1) The torment and misery are great in themselves.
(2) They are of endless duration.
(1) The torment and misery, of which natural men are in danger, are
exceedingly great in themselves. They are great beyond any of our words or
thoughts. When we speak of them, our words are swallowed up. We say they
are great, and exceedingly great, and very dreadful. But when we have used
all the words we can to express them, how faint is the idea that is raised in our
minds in comparison with the reality! This misery will appear very dreadful if
we consider what calamities meet together in it. In it the wicked are deprived
of all good, separated from God and all fruits of his mercy. In this world they
enjoy many of the streams of God's goodness. But in the future world they will
have no more smiles of God, no more manifestations of his mercy by benefits,
by warnings, by calls and invitations. He will never more manifest his mercy
by the exercise of patience and long-suffering, by waiting to be gracious. No
more use any forbearance with them for their good. No more exercise his
mercy by strivings of his Spirit, by sending messengers and using means.
They will have no more testimonies of the fruits of God's goodness in enjoying
food and clothing, and comfortable dwellings and convenient
accommodations, nor any of the comforts of this life. No more manifestations
of his mercy by suffering them to draw near to him with their prayers, to pray
for what they need. God will exercise no pity towards them, no regard for
their welfare. Cut off from all the comforts of this life, shut out of heaven, they
will see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But they shall
be turned away from God and from all good, into the blackness of darkness,
into the pit of hell, into that great receptacle, which God has provided on
purpose to cast into it the filthy, and polluted, and abominable of the universe.
They will be in a most dreadful condition. They will have no friends. God will
be their enemy, angels and the spirits of the just will be their enemies, devils
and damned spirits will be their enemies. They will be hated with perfect
hatred, will have none to pity them, none to bemoan their case, or to be any
comfort to them. It appears that the state of the damned will be exceedingly
dreadful in that they will suffer the wrath of God, executed to the full upon
them, poured out without mixture. They shall bear the wrath of the Almighty.
They shall know how dreadful the wrath of an Almighty God is.
Now none knows, none can conceive. Psalm. 90:11,"Who knows the power of
your anger?" Then they shall feel the weight of God's wrath. In this world
they have the wrath of God abiding on them, but then it will be executed upon
them. Now they are the objects of it, but then they will be the subjects of it.
Now it hangs over them, but then it shall fall upon them in its full weight
without alleviation, or any moderation or restraint. Their souls and their
bodies shall then be filled full with the wrath of God. Wicked men shall be as
full of wrath as anything that glows in the midst of a furnace is of fire. The
wrath of God is infinitely more dreadful than fire. Fire, yes the fiercest fire, is
but an image and shadow of it. The vessels of wrath shall be filled up with
wrath to the brim. Yes, they shall be plunged into a sea of wrath. And
therefore hell is compared to a lake of fire and brimstone, because there
wicked men are overwhelmed and swelled up in wrath, as men who are cast
into a lake or sea, are swallowed up in water. O who can conceive of the
dreadfulness of the wrath of an Almighty God!
Everything in God is answerable to his infinite greatness. When God shows
mercy, he shows mercy like a God. His love is infinitely desirable because it is
the love of God. And so when he executes wrath it is like a God. This God will
pour out without mixture. Rev. 14:10,"The same shall drink of the wine of the
wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his
indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the
presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." No mixture of
mercy or pity; nothing thrown into the cup of wrath to assuage or moderate it.
"God shall cast upon him and not spare." (Job 27:22) They shall be cast into
the wine-press of the wrath of God, where they shall be pressed down with
wrath, as grapes are pressed in a wine-press. Rev. 14:19,"Cast into the great
wine-press of the wrath of God." God will then make appear in their misery
how terrible his wrath is, that men and angels may know how much more
dreadful the wrath of God is, than the wrath of kings, or any creatures. They
shall know what God can do towards his enemies, and how fearful a thing it is
to provoke him to anger.
If a few drops of wrath do sometimes so distress the minds of men in this
world, so as to be more dreadful than fire, or any bodily torment, how
dreadful will be a deluge of wrath. How dreadful will it be, when all God's
mighty waves and billows of wrath pass over them! Every faculty of the soul
shall be filled with wrath, and every part of the body shall be filled with fire.
After the resurrection the body shall be cast into that great furnace, which
shall be so great as to burn up the whole world. These lower heavens, this air
and this earth, shall all become one great furnace, a furnace that shall burn
the earth, even to its very center. In this furnace shall the bodies of the wicked
lie to all eternity, and yet live, and have their sense of pain and torment not all
diminished. O, how full will the heart, the vitals, the brain, the eyes, the
tongue, the hands, and the feet be of fire; of this fire of such an inconceivable
fierceness! How full will every member, and every bone, and every vein, and
every sinew, be of this fire! Surely it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of
the living God. Who can bear such wrath? A little of it is enough to destroy us.
Psalm. 2:12, "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish from the way,
when his wrath is kindled but a little." But how will men be overwhelmed,
how will they sink, when God's wrath is executed in so dreadful a degree! The
misery which the damned will endure, will be their perfect destruction. Psalm.
50:22, "Now consider this, you that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and
there be none to deliver."
In several places the wicked are compared to the stubble, and to briers and
thorns before devouring flames, and to the fat of lambs, which consumes into
smoke. Psalm. 37:20, "But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the
Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into smoke shall they
consume away." They shall be as it were ground to powder under the weight
of God's wrath. Mat. 21:24. Their misery shall be perfect misery; and because
damnation is the perfect destruction of a creature, therefore it is called death.
It is eternal death, of which temporal death, with all its awful circumstances,
is but a faint shadow of the state of the soul under the second death. How
dreadful the state of the damned is, we may argue from the desert of sin. One
sin deserves eternal death and damnation, which, in the least degree of it, is
the total destruction of the creature. How dreadful, then, is the misery of
which natural people are in danger, who have lived some time in the world,
and have committed thousands and thousands of sins, and have filled up many
years with a course of sinning, and have committed many great sins, with high
aggravations, who have sinned against the glorious gospel of Christ, and
against great light, whose guilt if far more dreadful than that of the people of
Sodom and Gomorrah! How dreadful is the punishment to which they are
exposed, in which all their sins shall be punished according to their desert,
and the uttermost farthing shall be exacted of them! The punishment of one
idle word, or sinful thought, would be more than they could bear. How then
will they bear all the wrath that shall be heaped upon them for all their
multiplied and aggravated transgressions? If one sin deserves eternal death
and damnation, how many deaths and damnations will they have accumulated
upon them at once! Such an aggravated, multiplied death must they die every
moment, and always continue dying such a death, and yet never be dead. Such
misery as this may well be called the blackness of darkness. Hell may well be
called the bottomless pit, if the misery is so unfathomably great.
Men sometimes have suffered extreme torment in this world. dreadful have
been the sufferings of some of the martyrs. But how little those are, in
comparison of the sufferings of the damned, we may learn from 1 Pet. 4:16,
17, 18,"Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let
him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come, that judgment must
begin at the house of God. And if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of
those that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved,
where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?" The apostle is here speaking of
the sufferings of Christians. And from thence he argues, that seeing their
sufferings are so great, how unspeakably great will be the sufferings of the
wicked! And if judgment begins with them, what shall be the end of those who
obey not the gospel! As much as to say, the sufferings of the righteous are
nothing to what those, who obey not the gospel, are. How dreadful, therefore,
does this argue their misery to be! Well may the sinners in Zion be afraid, and
fearful, and surprised. Well may the kings of the earth, and the great men,
and rich men, and chief captains, and every bond man, and every free man,
hide themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, at Christ's
second coming; and cry and say to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us, and
hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the
Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?"
Well may there be weeping and gnashing of teeth in hell, where there is such
misery. Thus the misery of those who are in a natural condition, is, in itself,
exceedingly great.
(2) It is of endless duration. The misery is not only amazingly great, and
extreme, but of long continuance; yes, of infinitely long continuance. It never
will have any end. There will be no deliverance, no rest, no hope. But they will
last throughout all eternity. Eternity is a thing in the thought of which our
minds are swallowed up. As it is infinite in itself, so it is infinitely beyond the
comprehension of our minds. The more we think of it, the more amazing will
it seem to us. Eternity is a duration, to which a long period of time bears no
greater proportion than a short period. A thousand years, or a thousand ages,
bear no greater proportion to eternity than a minute; or which is the same
thing, a thousand ages are as much less than eternity as a minute. A minute
comes as near an equality to it; or you may take as many thousand ages out of
eternity, as you can minutes. If a man by the utmost skill in arithmetic, should
denote or enumerate a great number of ages, and should rise by multiplication
to ever so prodigious numbers, should make as great figures as he could, and
rise in multiplying as fast as he could, and should spend his life in multiplying;
the product of all would be no nearer equal to the duration which the wicked
must spend in the misery of hell, than one minute. Eternity is that, which
cannot be made less by subtraction. If we take from eternity a thousand years
or ages, the remainder is not the less for it. Eternity is that which will forever
be but beginning, and that because all the time which is past, let it be ever so
long, is but a point to what remains. The wicked, after they have suffered
millions of ages, will be, as it were, but in the first point, only setting out in
their sufferings. It will be no comfort to them that so much is gone, for they
will have none the less to bear. There will never a time come, when, if what is
past is compared to what is to come, it will not be as a point, and as nothing.
The continuance of their torment cannot be measured out by revolutions of
the sun, or moon, or stars, by centuries or ages. They shall continue suffering
after these heavens and this earth shall wax old as a garment, until the whole
visible universe is dissolved. Yes, they shall remain in their misery through
millions of such ages as are equal to the age of the sun, and moon, and stars,
and still it will be all one, as to what remains, still no nearer the end of their
misery. Mat. 25:41,"Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels." Mark 9:44,"Where their worm dies
not, and the fire is not quenched." Rev. 20:10, "They shall be tormented day
and night forever and ever." And 14:11,"The smoke of their torment ascends
up forever and ever." The damned in hell in their misery will be in absolute
despair. They shall know that their misery will have no end, and therefore
they will have no hopes of it. O, who can conceive the dreadfulness of such
despair as this in the midst of such torment! Who can express, or think
anything how dreadful the thought of eternity is to them, who are under so
great torment! To what unfathomable depths of woe will it sink them! With
what a gloom and blackness of darkness will it fill them!
What a boundless gulf of sorrow and woe is the thought of eternity to the
damned, who shall be in absolute and utter despair of any deliverance! How
dreadful, then, is the condition of those who are in a natural state, who are in
danger of such misery.
2. The dreadfulness of their condition will appear by considering how great
their danger is of this misery. This will be obvious from the following things:
(1) Their danger is such, that continuing in their present state, they will
unavoidably sink into this misery.
First, the state in which natural people now are, naturally tends to it. And
this, because they are separate from God, and destitute of any spiritual good.
The soul that is in a state of separation from its Creator, must be miserable
because he is separate from the fountain of all good. He who is separate from
God, is in great danger of ruin because he is without any defense. He who is
separate from God, must perish, if he continue so, because it is from God only
that he can have those supplies which can make him happy. It is with the soul
as it is with the body. The body without supplies of sustenance will miserably
famish and die. So the souls of natural men are in a famishing condition. They
are separate from God, and therefore are destitute of any spiritual good,
which can nourish the soul, or keep it alive; like one that is remote in a
wilderness, where he has nothing to eat or drink, and therefore, if he continue
so, will unavoidably die. So the state of natural men naturally tends to that
dreadful misery of the damned in hell, because they are separate from God.
Second, they are under the power of a mortal disease, which if it not healed,
will surely bring them to this death. They are under the power and dominion
of sin, and sin is a mortal disease of the soul. If it is not cured, it will certainly
bring them to death; namely, to that second death of which we have heard.
The infection of the disease has powerfully seized their vital parts. The whole
head is sick, the whole heart faint. The disease is ingrained. The infection is
spread throughout the whole frame. The very nature is corrupted and ruined;
and the whole must come to ruin, if God by his mighty power does not heal
the disease. The soul is under a mortal wound; a wound deep and dreadfully
confirmed. Its roots reach the most vital parts; yes, they are principally seated
there. There is a plague upon the heart, which corrupts and destroys the
source of life, ruins the whole frame of nature, and hastens an inevitable
death. There is a most deadly poison, which has been infused into, and spread
over, the man. He has been bitten by a fiery serpent, whose bite issues in a
most tormenting death. Sin is that, which does as naturally tend to the misery
and ruin of the soul, as the most mortal poison tends to the death of the body.
We look upon people far gone in a consumption, or with an incurable cancer,
or some malady, as in doleful circumstances. But that mortal disease, under
whose power natural men are, makes their case a thousand times more
doleful. That mortal disease of natural men does, as it were, ripen them for
damnation. We read of the clusters of the vine of the earth being for the winepress
of the wrath of God, Rev. 14:18, where by the clusters of the vine are
meant wicked men. The wickedness of natural men tends to sink them down
to hell, as the weight of a stone causes it to tend toward the center of the earth.
Natural men have, as it were, the seeds of hell within their own hearts. Those
principles of sin and corruption, which are in them, if they remain
unmortified, will at length breed the torment of hell in them, and that
necessarily, and of their own tendency. The soul that remains under the power
of sin will at length take fire of itself. Hell will kindle in them.
(2) If they continue in their present state, this misery appears to be
unavoidable, if we consider the JUSTICE and TRUTH of God.
First, if they continue in their present condition, so surely as God is just, they
shall suffer the eternal misery of which we have heard. The honor of God's
justice requires it, and God will not disparage his own justice. He will not
deny his own honor and glory, but will glorify himself on the wicked as well as
the godly. He will not lose his honor of any one of his creatures which he has
made.
It is impossible that God should be frustrated or disappointed. And so surely
as God will not be frustrated, so surely shall they who continue in a natural
condition, suffer that eternal misery, of which we have heard. The avenging
justice of God is one of the perfections of his nature. And he will glorify all his
perfections. God is unalterable in this as well as his other perfections. His
justice shall and must be satisfied. He has declared that he will by no means
clear the guilty, Exo. 34:7. And that he will not justify the wicked, Exo. 23:7.
And that he will not at all acquit the wicked, Nah. 1:3. God is a strictly just
Judge. When men come to stand before him, he will surely judge them
according to their works. Those who have guilt lying upon them, he will surely
judge according to their guilt. The debt they owe to justice must be paid to the
uttermost farthing. It is impossible that anyone, who dies in his sins, should
escape everlasting condemnation and punishment before such a Judge. He will
render to every man according to his deeds. Rom. 2:8,"Unto them that are
contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation
and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that does evil." It
is impossible to influence God to be otherwise than just in judging ungodly
men. There is no bribing him. He accepts not the person of princes, nor
regards the rich more than the poor. Deu. 10:17, "He regards not people, nor
takes reward." It is impossible to influence him to be otherwise than strictly
just, by any supplications, or tears, or cries. God is inexorably just. The cries
and the moans of the malefactor will have no influence upon this Judge to
pass a more favorable judgment on them, so as in any way to acquit or release
them. The eternal cries, and groans, and lamentations of the wicked will have
no influence upon him. Though they are ever so long continued, they will not
prevail upon God.
Second, so surely as God is true, if they die in the state they are now in, they
shall suffer that eternal misery. God has threatened it in a positive and
absolute manner. The threatenings of the law are absolute. And they, who are
in a natural state, are under the condemnation of the law. The threatening of
the law takes hold upon them. And if they continue under guilt, God is obliged
by his word to punish them according to that threatening. And he has often, in
the most positive and absolute manner, declared that the wicked shall be cast
into hell; that they who believe not shall be damned; that they shall have their
portion in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; and that their misery
shall never have an end. And therefore, if there be any truth in God, it shall
surely be so. It is as impossible that he who dies in a natural condition, should
escape suffering that eternal misery, as that God should lie. The Word of God
is stronger and firmer than mountains of brass, and shall not fail. We shall
sooner see heaven and earth pass away, than one jot or tittle of all that God
has said in his Word not be fulfilled. So much for the first thing, that evinces
the greatness of the danger that natural men are in of hell; namely, that they
will unavoidably sink into hell, if they continue in such a condition.
(3) Their danger will appear very dreadful, if we consider how uncertain it is,
whether they will ever get out of this condition. It is very uncertain whether
they will ever be converted. If they should die in their present condition, their
misery is certain and inevitable. But it is very doubtful whether they will not
die in such a condition, their misery is certain and inevitable. But it is very
doubtful whether they will not die in such a condition. There is great danger
that they will; great danger of their never being converted. And this will
appear, if we consider two things.
First, they have nothing on which to depend for conversion. They have
nothing in the world, by which to persuade themselves that they shall ever be
converted. Left to themselves, they never will repent and turn to God. If they
are ever converted, therefore, it is God who must do it. But they have no
promise of God, that they ever shall be converted. They do not know how soon
they may die. God has not promised them long life; and he has not promised
them that they shall be ready for death before they die. It is but a
peradventure, whether God will ever give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth. 2 Tim. 2:25. Their resolutions are not to be
depended on. If they have convictions, they are not to be depended on; they
may lose those convictions. Their conversion depends on innumerable
uncertainties. It is very uncertain, then, whether they will be converted before
they die.
Second, another thing which shows the danger there is that they shall never be
converted, is, that there are but few, comparatively, who are ever converted.
But few of those, who have been natural people in time past, have been
converted. Most of them have died unconverted. So it has been in all ages, and
hence we have reason to think that but few of them, who are unconverted
now, will ever be converted; that most of them will die unconverted, and will
go to hell. Natural people are ready to flatter themselves, that they shall be
converted. They think there are signs of it. But a man would not run the
venture of so much as a sixpence in such an uncertainty as they are, about
their ever being converted, or not going to hell. This shows the doleful
condition of natural men, as it is uncertain whether they shall ever be
converted.
Third, those who are in a natural condition are in danger of going to hell
every day. Those now present, who are in a natural condition, are in danger of
dropping into hell before tomorrow morning. They have nothing to depend
on, to keep them out of hell one day, or one night. We know not what a day
may bring forth. God has not promised to spare them one day; and he is every
day angry with them. The black clouds, that are full of the thunder of God's
wrath, hang over their heads every day, and they know not how soon the
thunder will break forth upon their heads. Natural men are in Scripture
compared to those that walk in slippery places. They know not when their feet
will slip. They are continually in danger. Psalm. 73:18,"Surely you did set
them in slippery places; you cast them down into destruction. How are they
brought into desolation as in a moment." Natural men hang over the pit of
hell, as it were, by a thread, that has a moth continually gnawing it. They
know not when it will snap in twain, and let them drop. They are in the
utmost uncertainty. They are not secure one moment. A natural man never
goes to sleep, but that he is in danger of waking in hell. Experience
abundantly teaches the matter to be so. It shows, by millions of instances, that
man is not certain of life one day. And how common a thing is it for death to
come suddenly and unexpectedly! And thousands, beyond all reasonable
question, are going to hell every day, and death comes upon them
unexpectedly. "When they shall say, peace and safety, then sudden
destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they
shall not escape." It is a dreadful condition that natural people are in upon
this account. And no wise person would be in their condition for a quarter of
an hour for the whole world, because such is the danger that they will drop
into hell before that quarter of an hour is expired.
Thus I have shown how dreadful the condition of natural men is, relatively
considered. I shall mention two or three things more, which yet further make
it appear how doleful their condition is.
1. The longer it continues, the worse it grows. This is a dreadful circumstance
in the condition of a natural man. Any disease is looked upon as the more
dreadful, for its growing and increasing nature. Thus a cancer and gangrene
are regarded as dreadful calamities, because they continually grow and
spread. And the faster they grow, the more dreadful are they accounted. It
would be dreadful to be in a natural condition, if a person could continue as
he is, and his condition grow no worse; if he could live in a natural condition,
and never have it any more dreadful, than when he first begins to sin. But it is
yet much more dreadful, when we consider that it every day becomes worse
and worse. The condition of natural men is worse today than it was yesterday,
and that on several accounts. The heart grows more and more polluted and
hardened. The longer sin continues unmortified, the more is it strengthened
and rooted. Their guilt also grows greater, and hell every day grows hotter;
for they are every day adding sin to sin, and so their iniquity is increasing
over their heads more and more. Every new sin adds to the guilt. Every sin
deserves eternal death for its punishment. And therefore in every sin that a
man commits, there is so much added to the punishment, to which he lies
exposed. There is, as it were, another eternal death added to augment his
damnation.
And how much is added to the account in God's book every day. How many
new sins are set down, that all may be answered for; each one of which sins
must be punished, that by itself would be an eternal death! How fast do
wicked men heap up guilt, and treasure up wrath, so long as they continue in
a natural condition! How is God more and more provoked, his wrath more
and more incensed; and how does hell-fire continually grow hotter and hotter!
If a man has lived twenty years in a natural condition, the fire has been
increased every day since he has lived. It has been, as it were, blown up to a
greater and greater degree of fierceness. Yes, how dreadfully does one day's
continuance in sin add to the heat of hell-fire!
2. All blessings are turned into curses to those who live and die in such a
condition. Those things which are most pleasant and comfortable, and which
men esteem the blessings of life, are but curses unto such; as their food, and
their drink, and their clothing. There is a curse goes with every mouthful of
food, and every drop of drink, to such a person. There is a curse with his
clothing which he puts on. It all contributes to his misery. Though it may
please him, yet it does him no good, but he is the more miserable for it. If he
has any enjoyment which is sweet and pleasant to him, the pleasure is a curse
to him. He is really the more miserable for it. It is an occasion of death to him.
His possessions, which he values himself upon, and sets his heart upon, are
turned into a curse to him. His house has the curse of God upon it, and his
table is a snare and a trap to him. Psalm. 69:22. His bed has God's curse upon
it. When he lies down to sleep, a curse attends his rest; and when he goes forth
to labor, he is followed with a curse on that. The curse of God is upon his
fields, on his corn, and herds, and all he has. If he has friends and relations,
who are pleasant and dear to him, they are no blessings to him. He receives no
comfort by them, but they prove a curse to him. I say it is thus with those who
live and die in a natural condition. Deu. 28:16, etc., "Cursed shall you be in
the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket, and
your store. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your land,
and the increase of your kine, and the flocks of your sheep.
Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go
out. The Lord shall send upon you cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that
you set thing hand unto for to do, until you be destroyed, and until you perish
quickly; because of the wickedness of your doings, whereby you have forsaken
me." Man's faculties of reason and understanding, and all his natural powers,
are turned into a curse. Yes, spiritual mercies and privileges shall also be
turned into a curse to those who live and die in a natural condition. A curse
goes with the worship of God, and with sabbaths and sacraments, with
instruction, and counsels, and warnings, and with the most precious
advantages. They are all turned into a curse. They are a savor of death unto
death. They do but harden the heart, and aggravate the guilt and misery, and
inflame the divine wrath. Isaiah 6:9, 10. "Go, make the heart of this people
fat." 2 Cor. 2:16,"To the one we are the savor of death unto death." It will
only be an occasion of their misery, that God ever sent Christ into the world
to save sinners. That which is in itself so glorious a manifestation of God's
mercy, so unspeakable a gift, that which is an infinite blessing to others who
receive Christ, will be a curse unto them. 1 Pet. 2:8,"A stone of stumbling, and
a rock of offense." The blood of Christ, which is the price of eternal life and
glory to some, is an occasion of sinking them vastly the lower into eternal
burnings. And that is the case of such people. The more precious any mercies
are in themselves, the more of a curse are they to them. The better the things
are in themselves, the more will they contribute to their misery. And spiritual
privileges, which are in themselves greater mercies than any outward
enjoyments, will above all other things prove a curse to them. Nothing will
enhance their condemnation so much as these.
On account of these, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the
day of judgment, than for them. Yes, so doleful is the condition of natural
men, that if they live and die in that condition, not only the enjoyments of life,
but life itself, will be a curse to them. The longer they live, the more miserable
will they be; the sooner they die, the better. If they live long in such a
condition, and die in it at last, it would have been better for them if they had
died before. It would have been far better for them to have spent the time in
hell, than on earth. Yes, better for them to have spent ten thousand years in
hell, instead of one on earth. When they look back, and consider what
enjoyments they have had, they will wish they had never had them. Though
when on earth they set their hearts on their earthly enjoyments, they will
hereafter wish they had been without them; for they will see they have only
fitted them for the slaughter. They will wish they never had had their houses
and lands, their garments, their earthly friends, and their earthly possessions.
And so they will wish that they had never enjoyed the light of the gospel, that
they had been born among the heathen in some of the most dark and
barbarous places of the earth. They will wish that Christ had never come into
the world to die for sinners, so as to give men any opportunity to be saved.
They will wish that God had cast off fallen man, as he did the fallen angels,
and had never made him the offer of a Savior. They will wish that they had
died sooner, and had not had so much opportunity to increase their guilt and
their misery. They will wish they had died in their childhood, and been sent to
hell then. They will curse the day that ever they were born, and wish they had
been made vipers and scorpions, or anything, rather than rational creatures.
3. They have no security from the most dismal horrors of mind in this life.
They have no security, but their stupidity. A natural man can have no comfort
or peace in a natural condition, but that of which blindness and senselessness
are the foundation. And from what has been said, that is the very evil. A
natural man can have no comfort in anything in this world any further, than
thought and consideration of mind are kept down in him. As you make a
condemned malefactor senseless of his misery by putting him to sleep with
opium, or make him merry just before his execution by giving him something
to deprive him of the use of reason, so that he shall not be sensible of his own
circumstances. Otherwise, there is no peace or comfort, which a natural man
can have in a natural condition. Isa. 57:21, "There is no peace, says my God,
to the wicked." Job 15:20, "The wicked man travails with pain all his days. A
dreadful sound is in his ears." The doleful state of a natural man appears
especially from the horror and amazement to which he is liable on a deathbed.
To have the heavy hand of God upon one in some dangerous sickness,
which is wasting and consuming the body, and likely to destroy it, and to have
a prospect of approaching death, and of soon going into eternity, there to be in
such a condition as this: to what amazing apprehensions must the sinner be
liable! How dismal must his state be, when the disease prevails, so that there is
no hope that he shall recover, when the physician begins to give him over, and
friends to despair of his life; when death seems to hasten on, and he is at the
same time perfectly blind to any spiritual object, altogether ignorant of God,
of Christ, and of the way of salvation, having never exercised one act of love to
God in his life, or done one thing for his glory; having then every lust and
corruption in its full strength; having then such enmity in the heart against
God, as to be ready to dethrone him, if that were possible; having no right in
God, or interest in Christ; having the terrible wrath of God abiding on him;
being yet the child of the devil, entirely in his possession and under his power;
with no hope to maintain him, and with the full view of never-ending misery
just at the door.
What a dismal case must a natural man be in under such circumstances! How
will his heart die within him at the news of his approaching death, when he
finds that he must go, that he cannot deliver himself, that death stands with
his grim countenance looking him in the face, and is just about to seize him,
and carry him out of the world. And that he at the same time has nothing to
depend on! How often are there instances of dismal distress of unconverted
people on a deathbed! No one knows the fears, the exercise and torment in
their hearts, but they who feel them. They are such that all the pleasures of
sin, which they have had in their whole lives, will not pay them for. As you
may sometimes see godly men go triumphing out of the world full of joy, with
the foretastes of heaven, so sometimes wicked men, when dying, anticipate
something of hell before they arrive there. The flames of hell do, as it were,
come up and reach them, in some measure, before they are dead. God then
withdraws, and ceases to protect them. The tormentor begins his work while
they are alive. Thus it was with Saul and Judas; and there have been many
other similar instances since; and none, who are in a natural condition, have
any security from it. The state of a natural man is doleful on this account,
though this is but a prelude and foretaste of the everlasting misery which
follows.
Thus I have, in some measure, shown in what a doleful condition those are
who are in a natural condition. Still I have said but little. It is beyond what we
can speak or think.
They who say most of the dreadfulness of a natural condition, say but little.
And they who are most sensible, are sensible of but a small part of the misery
of a natural state.

The Sovereignty of God

Monday, December 11, 2006

The Second Coming

GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH

WHERE HAVE THEY GONE;
AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING?
Ecclesiastes 4:1-2

Don Fortner

Friday, January 27, 2006

The Christ of Arminianism

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

The Christian in Romans 7

Bearing the Rod Man

Divine Chastisement

Gospel Preaching Commanded

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

NATURAL MEN

Blog Archive

About Me

The Sovereignty of God

Monday, December 11, 2006

The Second Coming

GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH

WHERE HAVE THEY GONE;AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING?Ecclesiastes 4:1-2

Don Fortner

Friday, January 27, 2006

The Christ of Arminianism

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

The Christian in Romans 7

Bearing the Rod Man

Divine Chastisement

Gospel Preaching Commanded

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

NATURAL MEN

Blog Archive

About Me

WHERE HAVE THEY GONE;
AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING?
Ecclesiastes 4:1-2