Miyerkules, Nobyembre 25, 2020

Why the Lord Suffereth Sin to Remain in the Regenerate? (Thomas Boston, 1676-1732)

 WE have seen already, that though there is a great change wrought on the elect in their regeneration yet that change is imperfect; there shall be no perfect delivery from indwelling sin till death; the body of death; though crucified, yet lives till the death of the body: and it is not so driven out to the outworks, but that it remains, and hath its seat in the main hold, in the soul, even in the mind and will. Experience suffereth not gracious souls to doubt of the being of sin in them, while it occasions them so much struggling and wrestling; yea, while they feel the great strength of it, they are many times ready from thence to call in question the being of grace in them, and to put forth that which was Rebekah's question, in another case, "If it be so, why am I thus?"* And therefore, although we are not to call God to an account of his doings with supercilious boldness, flowing from an obstinate and stubborn heart; yet it may very well be allowed, that we go humbly, and with her inquire of the Lord.

The soul, in regeneration, gets a new nature, though the grace received is not of such efficacy as totally to drive away the old. The regenerate get a real love to God in their hearts, and a real hatred against sin; so that the man would fain leave sin, if it would leave him. And the truth is, that although sin and the soul are inseparable till death, yet sin rather cleaves to the soul than the soul to it. But, alas! though hated, it will not depart; following the man closely, as the shadow doth the body. But could it be lulled asleep, could it be so intoxicated as to leave off action, the child of God might have so much the better occasion to serve God without distraction while in the body. But how can the devil be quiet, when he knows his time is short? How can this old man sleep, while so many and various ensnaring objects still present themselves unto his view? Or how can the flesh be at rest, when it is nailed to a cross? Wherefore sin cannot but both be, and be active in the soul while on this side of time; even till that terrible soldier death come, and thrust his spear into its side, and bring forth its heart-blood.

"But are not two sparrows sold for one farthing? yet one of them cannot fall to the ground without our heavenly Father; yea, the very hairs of our head are numbered." We must not therefore think, that the children of God are left in this case by a fatal necessity, and that God is here an idle spectator. He hath the hearts of all men in his hand. If the centurion knew that he, being a poor mortal, clothed with a shadow of authority, having rude soldiers under him, could say to one, Go, and he goeth; to another, Come, and he cometh; faith might well thence draw the conclusion, That, much more, God, the sovereign Lord of all, can say to distempers, whether of body or soul, Go, and they should be gone; Come, and they should immediately be at hand. He raised up the soul when it was dead in sin spiritually; now the living soul is sick, how can any doubt of his power to cure it, and make it every whit whole. Yet the distemper remains with his dearest children, though he be a hater of iniquity, and his people groan to him daily under it. Though he can, yet we see he will not free them from it till death. But whatever be the reason or reasons of this dispensation, we believe, that when once his people have got over Jordan into the heavenly Canaan, they shall say without all reluctancy or doubting, "He hath done all things well."

As when a man hath newly recovered out of a severe fit of sickness, he is then most ready to take care of himself, and will be afraid of the least cold blast, and more narrowly than before inquire into the causes of his distemper, by which he hath so sore smarted; and if he find himself in such circumstances, that he cannot miss but again fall into his old distemper, he will long to be rid of that condition, and seriously think how he comes to be in such pitiful circumstances: even so I think it will be with a thinking soul, after a recovery from a dead frame and disposition of spirit, into which, by his unwatchfulness, the power of corruption within, and the malice of the devil from without, he had before been cast. Contraries set together appear then best in their own colours; therefore the disadvantages of a bad frame can never so well appear, as when they are fresh in the memory of the newly recovered saint, who hath now the candle of the Lord shining on his tabernacle; and consequently the way leading to that bad frame of spirit, never appears so hateful as at such a time. Suppose then the thoughts of a certainty of his falling back to be observant unto him, what thoughts of heart will this create? It is true, sometimes a child of God, when matters go right with his soul, may be thinking on building tabernacles here, as Peter on the mountain; and, with David, saying, "My mountain standeth sure, I shall not be moved." But this is a piece of the levity of the vain and foolish heart, when men look only above them, without deep consideration of the way of God's dispensation. But I suppose, that when in this case they look about them, through the world, where so many snares are laid for them, amongst which of necessity they must walk: and look also within them, and see what bosom enemies are yet alive, ready to betray them into the hand of the devil; and do take pains to consider what a vile heart yet they have, from whence such mists and fogs are ready to arise, as may again make a thick cloud betwixt them and their Lord, and make them lose sight of the guide of their youth, and captain of their salvation; they will then even stand in need of new comfort, and something from above to establish their hearts. And here I think we may stand, and see a gracious soul joining trembling with mirth, and bemoaning itself thus:—

"O happy hour when the Lord awakened me out of my spiritual sleep! The devil and mine own corruptions had lulled me asleep; though even in the time my heart waked, and I found an inefficacious dissatisfaction with myself, which was not able to rouse me up, but made me sometimes as it were to start in my sleep: but my Beloved left me not, as justly he might, to sleep a perpetual sleep; but knocked at the door of my heart, saying, Open to me, my sister, my spouse: and though I was long a stirring to get up, he stood still, till his head was filled with the dew, and his locks with drops of the night; at last he put in his hand at the hole of the door, gave the rousing knock, spoke to my heart the overcoming word, captivated my soul, so as my bowels moved towards him. I opened to my Beloved; he came in; I supped with him, and he with me. He hath brought me into the banqueting-house, his banner over me is love. O how does my soul love him! my Lord and my God!—But, ah Lord! my soul fails; I have been here before, but a cloud overtook me, darkened the holy place, I lost the light of thy countenance; and, which now pierceth my soul, the very enemies remain in me, who before carried me back into the borders of Egypt, set me down in the land of darkness and shadow of death, and put out my two eyes. Now is sin to me more bitter than death and hell; yet I know assuredly I must again meet with that terrible ghost; and if I live long in this tabernacle, I shall lose all I now enjoy; my song shall be turned into lamentation and howling, the now smiling countenance shall again be provoked to frown, my wine is mixed with water; corruption will again lift up the head, the sorrowful day of my captivity will, I fear, ere long overtake me, this heart of mine will have me back to where I was before. O to be gone! I see, with a sorrowful heart and weeping eyes, a necessity of sinning, into which we poor mortals have brought ourselves, and the Lord leaves me yet under it. Lord, why are not the cursed Canaanites utterly rooted out?"

I judge, that a man in this case needs not fear his enjoyment to be a delusion, there is so much of an evangelical spirit breathing in it. The sound hatred that appears here against sin, while the soul doth feelingly apprehend it as the greatest of evils, is so far above the sphere of elevated nature, that it is a clear discovery of a renewed nature. A man willing to part with all, so that he might be free of sin, is one made partaker of the divine nature, aspiring to a more accomplished participation of it. This case savours of much real burning love to the Lord Jesus Christ, while the soul hath such an ardent desire of being nearer to him, and would fain be so near him, as to have such communion with him, as might never be interrupted, nor overclouded any more. It is also an evidence, that the soul hath tasted of the sweetness of Christ and fellowship with him, while it is so filled with fear of losing his presence. And many such things may be discerned in it.

Yet I dare not justify the soul through the whole of this case. So true it is, Nihil est ab omni parte beatum. I conceive, there may be something here in the mourner which is not allowable, and may justly be new grounds of mourning to him. There seems to appear here a kind of spiritual selfishness, when the soul hath its own spiritual advantage (which is so seemingly at least) so much upon the heart, that it keeps not due respect to the sovereign will of God, to which belongs the free disposal of all good, and particularly of the influences of his grace; so that the creature, as a creature, is indispensably bound to a silent submission, whatever way sovereignty doth cast the balance. When Peter was upon the mount with Christ, "It is good for us to be here, let us make tabernacles," says he; but the verdict of the Spirit of God thereupon is, that he wist not what he said. Sense is much addicted to self; and though it had specious pretences, yet its language is not always to be heard; for it is certain it is an ill judge of controversies betwixt Christ and the soul. But faith is sure always to decide in Christ's favour. If Christ smile on the soul, faith saith, He doth well; and sense says so too. If he frown, then sense cries out against him; but faith says, He doth all things well; let him desert, afflict, yea, kill the man, faith says, "It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good; good is the will of the Lord." Faith puts a knife to the throat of self-love, and self-wit, to sacrifice them to the will of God, who is infinitely wise; it teacheth a man to lay his mouth in the dust, and wraps up the will in the will of God. In the hearts of the godly exercised, pride goeth much abroad in vail, though not in dress; it is there transformed into an angel of light, appearing in a shape different from that wherein it doth appear in others. Pride in the hearts of natural men, when Christ comes to them, says, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy name; but pride in the hearts of the godly exercised, when Christ seems to be going away, or they know they will not have always the present measure of communion with him, will not suffer Christ to be master of his own process; though it is certain, that we are obliged to a holy submission, and the potsherd must not quarrel with the potter, but the Lord must have leave to go and come as he pleaseth. Humble-hearted Mary, when Christ says unto her, "Touch me not, Mary, for I am not yet ascended:" though her love would have carried her forward, yet her deniedness to her spiritual self, at Christ's command, makes her hold up her hands. It were good in such a case to learn that lesson.

Moreover, Satan may be working here under ground to blow up the present enjoyment with a fear of distrust. Satan grudgeth the happiness of the people of God, and endeavoureth by all means, seeing he cannot hinder these refreshing influences of the Spirit, and comfortable manifestations, to make them as short-lived as possible, and for this end he goeth about to fill the soul with a distrustful fear, holding before his eyes, the certainty of his backsliding, and of losing the present enjoyment: which breeds in the soul a sinful jealousy of Christ, while the man is either ignorant of, or doth not consider the end and design of God in his dispensation; which Satan is now busy to misrepresent, wrest, and make use of to his great disadvantage: which once taking place, blasts the comfort of the present enjoyment, mars our thankfulness for what God hath given already. And whereas it is now time for the man to improve his access to God, for more strength against the devil and his own corruption, this fear takes up the man so, as he lets that good occasion slip out of his hands, and so is more easily overcome by the temptation; even as the fear of the battle in a soldier takes away his stomach, that he cannot eat, whereby he is the more unfit for his work. And, in fine, God may hereby be provoked to withdraw, so as they shall be made to say, That which I feared, is come upon me. Probatum est.

For the cure of this jealousy of Christ in the soul, arising from the consideration of his dispensation in leaving sin to be and act in those who wrestle against it, and account it their greatest burden, it is necessary the soul be acquainted with, and seriously consider of the true reason or reasons thereof, in regard we are ready to suspect the worst. A wife observing her husband frequently to curry towards her reservedly, and to wrap up himself from her, though he may be doing so for his own and her good, will yet be ready to suspect, that such carriage flows from his want of love towards her; and will not be satisfied easily, till she know the true reason of his so doing. So is it here. And surely the Lord doth not deal thus with his people, but with great reason; which being known and seriously pondered will make the soul conclude, he doth all things well.

To a soul then in this case several things may be proposed.

I. In the first place, God hath so ordered the matter of the believer's sanctification, that sin is left to be active in their souls while here, for their farther humiliation. They are hereby taught to bear low sails all the days of their lives, and, with "Hezekiah,* to go softly all their years in the bitterness of their souls." Wherefore we read, that lest Paul should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations, there was given to him a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan is sent to buffet him. And so we find David, after his grievous fall, grows in the grace of humility.

II. Next, This gives the soul many errands to God, stirs him up to the frequent exercise of prayer, and calling on the name of the Lord. The soul feels the continual need of pardon, and therefore must needs be much lying at God's footstool. The experience of the godly seals the truth of this, while, many times, they feeling the children (grace and corruption) straggling together within them, are made, as Rebekah, to "go and inquire of the Lord." Hence, when they grow remiss in their duty, the Lord sometimes, for their awakening suffers them to fall into some sin or sins grievously wounding the conscience; and so, like a presumptuous, self-willed child falling into the fire, they cry for and value the help of their father more.

III. Yea hereby we are made more watchful and observant of the heart. When the prisoner, having escaped, is retaken, he will be put in more close custody than before. When men find by experience what a bankrupt the heart is, they will learn not to give it credit. We live in a world where there are traps set before, and behind, and on each side, to catch us; we walk amidst many snares, yet are ready to fall secure, and careless, and to let down our watch. It is not amiss then, that we sometimes smart in order to our being kept awake.

IV. Further, as God left the Canaanites in the land to try his people, so he hath left the remains of natural corruption in his people for their exercise and trial; that having listed themselves to war under Christ's banner, they may have whom to fight with, and whom by strength from above they may overcome. God gives his people armour at their conversion; is it reasonable it should lie by them rusting? If the Canaanites were at the first dash utterly expelled the land, many of the graces of the Spirit should be laid by as useless. "Hope that is seen, is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for it?" Had we no enemies, or were we put beyond their reach utterly, there should be no occasion for the exercise of the grace of watchfulness. Patience should not have its perfect work; yea faith itself, as being "the evidence of things not seen, and the substance of things hoped for," should be of no more use. What should become of ordinances? God hath set up a ministry in his church to be for working together with him, to bring down the kingdom of darkness by degrees; he hath set up his word for a light to travellers towards Zion, not being well acquainted with the way; he hath given us his holy sacraments for our confirmation in faith, growth in grace, and comfort through the Spirit: these all might be laid aside, were it not that our sanctification is carried on by degrees.

V. Moreover, by this dispensation of grace, we are made more and more to feel our need of Christ, and his precious blood for the removal of guilt daily contracted anew, and for strengthening of our souls in our Christian course; so that we must come up out of the wilderness leaning on our Beloved. And we see that our stock is not in our hand; and if it were, that it would quickly be lost. Is not the soul made hereby to bless the Lord, that it is not left to be its own pilot while sailing through the troublesome sea of this world; but that Jesus Christ is his great steersman, by whose conduct he shall come safe to Immanuel's land?

VI. I add, That it may be observed, it is God's ordinary way to bring about great works by degrees; amongst which the sanctification of a sinner deservedly takes place. God could have created the world in a moment, yet he was pleased to take six days for it. As soon as Adam fell, he could have sent Christ to have died; but thousands of years must pass before this great work be accomplished. It is determined to the last days, the time of the world's old age. A dark revelation of this his purpose was made to Adam in the primitive gospel-promise; it was made more manifest to Abraham; revealed yet more clearly to and by Moses, more to the prophets, till John the Baptist at last pointed him out with the finger. He could have brought Israel out of Egypt into Canaan easily in a few days; but it pleased him, that they should wander forty years in the wilderness. So that it is but consonant hereunto, that he exerciseth his people so long in the wilderness of the world, after he hath brought them forth of the spiritual Egyptian bondage. And as it is God's ordinary method to carry on great works by degrees, so to bring them to pass through many difficulties—Joseph must be sold for a slave, and laid in irons in a strange land, before he be advanced; the Israelites must endure hard bondage and grievous affliction in Egypt, before they are brought into the land flowing with milk and honey; yea, the man Christ must first suffer, and then enter into his glory. So that in this dispensation he holds but his ordinary road. Finally,

VII. A learned man* lays down the whole matter thus:—"While we bear about a mortal body, this domestic tyrant cannot be altogether expelled;—because it is neither expedient for the glory of Christ, nor for our salvation. For the glory of Christ is so much the more illustrious, as his benefit is the better felt by us, while that enemy doth indeed dwell in us, but by the grace and Spirit of Christ is so repressed and holden captive, that it cannot domineer over us nor destroy us;—yea while we experience in us the grace of Christ so efficacious, that by it he makes us overcomers. Moreover, the glory of Christ becomes more illustrious, while, by reason of indwelling sin, we in very deed feel that we cannot be justified but by the perfect obedience of Christ, which we apprehend by faith. It is also expedient for our salvation, that the enemy abide in us till death, that we may have one to fight with perpetually, and fighting by the grace of Christ may overcome, and by overcoming may gain a greater crown to ourselves," Rev. 3; 2 Tim. 4.

That the consideration of these things may be very useful to a soul exercised with the consideration of this dispensation of providence in the matter of sanctification, as above declared, I think none can deny. To see how God makes such an excellent medicine of such poisonous ingredients, cannot be but very delightful. Yet I doubt, if the principal, if not the only reason, be yet explained; or if those things in this mould and frame be very likely to satisfy the soul, when this puzzling question comes more closely home upon the heart; but that very plausible objections may be raised against the same, to show their invalidity as to the main point in hand.

The great matter is, to find out the reason or reasons why it hath pleased the Lord to leave sin in the elect after conversion, and not to make them perfectly free from the indwelling of it at that very time, as he could certainly have done if it had pleased him. Now, I observe upon the whole of those grounds formerly laid down, which are usually pleaded in this case, That the case under consideration is resolved either into our own advantage, and the quickening of inherent grace, or into the will of God simply; and this by all of them, except the first part of the last ground assigned. As to the last of the two; it is indeed in effect that God would have it so because he would have it so; which I do confess may suffice, and no more can be had in some cases, Rom. 9:18, "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy." But I suppose that this case is not of that sort. As to the first; sin now appearing to the soul in its blackest colours, the creature's advantage being laid in the balance therewith, can have but little weight. As for the three first grounds, they do plainly suppose the question. The fourth seems to go the same way. As for the first part of the last ground, it points out the truth in general. But the explication of it mars all, while it is declared by our proper feeling of the benefits of Christ; which doth indeed hold good considered absolutely, but comparatively understood it doth not. Now, it is plain, that any thing that can be here said satisfyingly, must be by way of comparison. But I think no man can doubt, but that the more free of sin a Christian is, he feels the benefits of Christ the better. The same is to be said of the fifth reason. As to the rest, they do at least come under the disadvantage proposed in the general observation (to say no more upon them) resolving the case as said is.

To all of these grounds the following replies seem not to be unreasonable. You tell me (says the Christian under the supposed exercise) That this is God's design by this dispensation to humble me, to stir me up to call on his name, to make me more watchful, to let me see my need of Christ more. But my pride, slothfulness, unwatchfulness, unsensibleness of my need of Christ, are the great burdens I groan under. That which I would be at, is to have all these rooted out of my heart; and I know God could have done this at first, can do it still, yet he does not: What shall I say? As for faith, hope, &c. it is my soul's trouble, that I have so little of them; I would fain be at the full measure; and I know the graces of the Spirit are inseparable; whoso hath one, hath all. But though the exercise of these graces were inconsistent with the state of perfection that I would fain be at, which nevertheless is not so, (for if I were perfect in this life, or altogether free from sin, I could not but exercise faith, hope, and patience, as the man Christ did; and watchfulnes, as Adam did, or at least might have done in paradise); yet I am sure the spirits of just men made perfect above, are at no loss in that they do not, nor need not exercise those graces; neither is the glory of God thereby impaired, but indeed made more illustrious. I desire to value ordinances more than my necessary food, both because they have Christ's stamp upon them, and because in this my weary state I cannot want them. But, Oh! should I not be content, though all the stars were set, and had hid their heads, so that the Sun of Righteousness were risen with perfect healing under his wings? What though the inns were blocked up, if once the traveller were at his journey's end? But surely, if I were as I would be, I could manage ordinances far more to the glory of my Lord, and to mine own satisfaction, than I can now do at my best. The first and second Adam wanted not sacraments, and made use of them too. And I am persuaded, that if I were free of sin, I would have a far more deep sense of Christ's benefits, and of my need of him, than now I either have or can have. Self-righteousness, that spawn of the old serpent, is one of my greatest burdens, that makes me weary of this longsome night, and long to see the day when I shall be able to sing the song of the redeemed ones, and to give my Lord all and hail the glory, in which my wretched heart now will needs share with him. Though I cannot love him as I ought, nay nor as I would; yet would I be well content to continue in the fight never so long, so that I could but manage it without dishonour to my captain. It is not suffering, but sinning that affrights me. And I cannot but think that ten thousand jewels in my crown are too dear bought at the rate of one sin against my Lord; whereas there is not one sin, but many in my most complete actions now. It is God's ordinary method, I confess, to bring about great works by degrees, and over the belly of many difficulties. And O how early did God begin with me, how many times did he lay siege to my graceless heart, how long did he follow a poor miserable worm nothing, ere I would give consent? What great difficulties did grace break through, what iron gates did it lay by, when at first it shined into my soul? And yet I would cheerfully bear, and go through difficulties, if they were only in the kind of suffering, so that I were free of sin, that evil of all evils.

By all this we may see farther into the nature of the case proposed, and may discover what it is that is at the bottom of all, and what that is which most toucheth them in the quick. The case then terminates in an ardent desire of, and an unfeigned respect unto his glory, who hath brought the soul from darkness to light, and crowned it with loving-kindness and tender mercies; to which glory sin is so opposite. Wherefore I am of opinion, the whole is to be resolved into the praise of the glory of his grace, Eph. 1:6. which seems most exactly to answer the point.

I confess, that as none can bear a wounded spirit, so none can cure it but the great physician of souls. "It is he that smiteth, and it is only he that can bind up; he kills and he makes alive." He is the healer of all the soul's diseases and pains. As exercised soul hath great dexterity in raising objections, and is not easily satisfied; and its doubts and difficulties can no man resolve to its satisfaction, till he who is the great interpreter of the mind of God, and hath the tongue of the learned, take the work in hand, "and speak a word in season to the weary soul," by his Holy Spirit. Yet the Scripture shews that the Spirit teacheth and comforteth by the word: "He shall receive of mine," says Christ, speaking of the Spirit, "and shall shew it unto you," John 16:14; which is more clearly delivered chap. 14:26. "But the Comforter, he shall teach you all things, and shall bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you." So that from the word souls are to be dealt with for their comfort and satisfaction, looking to the Lord Jesus to send his Spirit to render the same effectual.

It plainly appears to such as read the Scriptures with a humble mind, and consider the doctrine therein delivered, and take notice of the Lord's way of dealing with his own, that the grand design of God in the contrivance of the elect's salvation, is, to exalt the riches of the free grace of God in Christ: Rom. 4:16. "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be of grace." Eph. 2:8, 9. "For by grace are ye saved;—not of works, lest any man should boast." Most plainly does the apostle resolve the whole of man's salvation into this, Eph. 1:3–6. "To the praise of the glory of his grace." I say, not simply to exalt grace, (which is always here to be understood of the free favour of God, or the grace of God without us); for even by the first covenant, the grace of God was exalted, and manifestly appeared in God's condescending to enter into a covenant with Adam, and to require obedience of him by virtue of a covenant, and that with a promise of so great a reward, to which his best works could bear no proportion; when, by virtue of his sovereignty merely, he might have exacted all obedience; here was grace, though, as Bayn* calls it, a more common and inferior grace: But I say the riches of grace, in respect of which the former was but a small scantling of grace. Thus the apostle holds it forth, Eph. 1:7. "According to the riches of his grace." Chap. 2:4. "But God, who is rich in mercy;" and ver. 7. "That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace." This then is clearly the great design of God in the contrivance of man's salvation. Now the heart of a child of God is (if I may so term it) shapen out in breadth and length to this design: for what is faith but an hearty acquiescing in the way of salvation held forth in the gospel, as suited both to man's necessity, and the divine perfections, and particularly tending unto the manifestation of the riches of grace whereby Christ is made all, and the creature nothing?

Here then I apprehend, we may find the great reason of the Lord's dispensation in the matter of the believer's sanctification, the knowledge and consideration whereof is most likely to give satisfaction to the soul thus exercised. And it is briefly this: The exalting of Christ, and of the free grace of God in him, is the great design and end of the contrivance of man's salvation, as held forth in the gospel; but God's leaving of sin to be, and to be active in the regenerate while they are in this world, yea and keeping of them for a while in that case in the world, does contribute more to the advancement of that design, than the making of them sinless immediately upon their closing with Christ. Therefore may we already not only believe, but see, that in this matter he hath done all things well.

If we consider a person under this exercise before declared, we shall find he is one that is filled with a deep sense of his own vileness, emptiness, and nothingness; and hath high thoughts of Christ, and of free grace; and so he is disposed to welcome whatsoever hath a tendency to the exalting of the same. And forasmuch as the glory of that God who hath done so great things for him lies nearest his heart, and the dishonour done unto him, galls him most: when he sees this way brings more glory to Christ, and exalts grace more than the way he would be at, it may justly be expected, he shall lay his hand upon his mouth, saying, "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good." It remains then, that we demonstrate the truth of this, That this way does more exalt Christ and free grace than the other; which I hope will be no difficult task.

I. The more sins be pardoned to a believer, grace is the more exalted, Christ hath the more glory; the more items are blotted out of justice's debt-book by the precious blood of the immaculate Lamb, the sinner is the more deep in the debt of free grace: But it is beyond controversy, that in this dispensation more sins are pardoned to a believer than otherwise would have been. Ergo, Let none pretend that free grace might have been as much or more exalted in keeping the believer from sin altogether after conversion, as in pardoning of the same, lest they fall foul upon God's design in suffering sin to enter into the world, prefer the grace of the first covenant to that of the second, and, in effect, say that God's dispensation is not suitable to his design.

II. The more sin is aggravated by its circumstances, the more is free grace exalted in pardoning it, the more illustrious is the virtue of Christ's blood; for the deeper the stain is, the harder is it to wash out: but by this dispensation, whereby sin is left in the regenerate for a while, free grace hath the glory of pardoning sins more heinous than those committed in the state of ignorance and unbelief. Ergo, Is not the offence of a spouse, child, friend, &c., more grievous than the offence given by a stranger? Friends' wounds pierce most deeply: "for it was not an enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it," &c. Psal. 55:12. The godly lie under far more accessary bonds and obligations to duty than others; and it is certain, the more obligations a man lies under to duty, the sin is the greater. Adultery and murder committed by a David, are more heinous in the sight of God, than the same sins committed by a wicked man. This is so manifest, that I need not insist to enumerate those aggravating circumstances that are to be found in the sins of the godly, which by no means can be in those of the wicked. And does not the pardoning of these deep-dyed sins exalt free grace wonderfully? Let men but consult their own experience, and they shall have a clear proof of this. The pardon of any sin does much affect a godly heart with admiration of the riches of grace; but when a man, after a recovery from some sin, after vows and resolutions against it, &c. doth relapse into the same, and yet has his backslidings healed, this augments the admiration of it. Of all sinners backsliders have the greatest difficulty to believe; and upon a received pardon, as they indeed are, so they seem to be, greatest debtors to grace.

III. The more deeply sin appears to be rooted in our natures, the more is the grace of God magnified in rooting it up; the more inveterate the disease seems to be, the more is the cure of it to the honour of the physician: "Since the world began, was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind," John 9:32. If a tree were plucked up in an instant, beholders could never so clearly see how fast rooted it was, as when it abides many pulls of a strong hand. Who could have imagined the strength of sin to have been so great in David as afterwards it appeared, when he had been so often bruised and troubled in spirit, and had arrived at so great mortification? The experience of believers affords to us an example of the same. Many times, after great wrestlings, they seem to themselves to have got great victory over a particular corruption, so that they are ready to think with themselves, that it will never be able to molest them as before; but at length it gets out again, renews the assault, and makes them see how it is, like Nebuchadnezzar's tree,* fastened in the earth of the heart with a band of iron and brass. Now, it is manifest, that were sin rooted out at the first dash, the fixedness of it in man's nature could never so much appear to beholders, as it may and doth in the way of this dispensation. Ergo,

IV. That which discovers, to the view of all, the creature's emptiness most, doth undeniably exalt grace most; but the emptiness of the creature, and its continual need of supply, is most discovered to the view of all this way: Ergo, I think, the angels themselves, who desire to pry into the mystery of grace, could not but learn a lesson of the creature's frailty and nothingness by Adam's fall, and of the riches of free grace in the way of his recovery; and the daily slips of the saints on the earth may be to them speaking testimonies of the creature's weakness; for we see the apostle thinks it not below their dignity, that they go to school in the church to learn "the manifold wisdom of God," Eph. 3:10. Suppose a weak child be held up on his feet by his father's hands, so that he cannot fall; whether doth his weakness appear so as when he is left to feel his own weight, and so gets several falls? The spirits of just men made perfect, who are now above the clouds, and the confirmed angels, are still creatures; and therefore live and act by a continued dependance on God: but the emptiness of the creature appears not so clearly in their case, as in the state of the saints on earth; whose weakness we not only know, but see with our eyes, while they get so many falls, and give so many ocular demonstrations of their need of grace, and of their own emptiness. So that if the nothingness of the creature proclaim the riches of grace, free grace is most exalted this way.

V. The more cowardly, faint-hearted, and feckless the soldiers are that get the victory over a potent enemy, the more is the valour of the captain discovered, the greater glory redounds to him; but such are the saints in their Christian warfare: Ergo, When David attempted to take the stronghold of Zion, the Jebusites boasting of the strength of the castle, looking on it as an impregnable fort, told him, that except he took away the blind and the lame, he could not get in there; meaning, that such was the strength of the fort, that the very blind and lame were sufficient to defend it against David and all his men, though others should sit by, looking on and doing nothing: which did mightily commend the stronghold. They are potent enemies, expert, and subtle, whom the Christian is called to encounter with: "For he wrestles not [only] against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."* In the meantime he is a weak creature, weak naturally as a man, in comparison of them, but yet weaker as a sinful man; but he is nevertheless more than conqueror: which surely doth more advance the glory of the great Captain of our salvation, than if he had stronger and more expert soldier. O what riches of grace appears here, which otherwise would have been in great measure smothered! And seeing the Scripture so frequently calls the Christian course "a warfare," let me also add this, That when an enemy beseigeth a town, wherein he hath a multitude of friends ready on all occasions to betray the same into his hand, yet the town holds out, and he is repulsed; what a shameful repulse is that? Is not the glory of the governor far greater in this case, than if he had forced the enemy to raise the seige, while he had plenty of his friends within the walls? The application is easy.

Finally, to shut up all; it is plain, that the more difficulties the work of man's salvation is carried through, the free grace of God is the more exalted; our Lord Jesus, the author of eternal salvation, hath the greater glory: but in this way it is carried on over the belly of more difficulties, than it would have been, if by the first grace the Christian had been made perfect. Ergo, And seeing (cœteris paribus) none can prize rest so much as they who have been sore toiled, and have come out of the greatest tribulations, I think I may be allowed to say, that a child of God having come to his journey's end after many ups and downs, falls and risings; having win through the troublesome sea of this world, and being set safe ashore, after many dangers of shipwreck, in a longsome voyage, will have the praises of free grace in his mouth sounding more loudly, and will sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb in a more elevated strain and higher notes, than if he had never been in danger through the whole of his course.

From all which it appears, that this dispensation is most suitable to the grand design of the gospel, the exalting of the riches of free grace in Christ. And what lover of Christ will not say, Amen!

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Where hath Sin its Lodging Place in the Regenerate? (Thomas Boston, 1676-1732)

 "GOD made man upright, but he found out many inventions." He was a glorious creature, as he dropt from the forming finger of God, all whose works are perfect. It was man's glory, that he was created after the image of God. It was God's will he should be created mutably so. Of his mutability there can be no controversy. Sad experience teacheth us, that man is not now perfect; but, on the contrary, a mass of sin, and lump of hell, the noble kind being affected with diabolic contagion, which he voluntarily received. Whereby it comes to pass, that all is infected. The understanding, which formerly was a sun of light in this little world, is not only overclouded, but utterly darkened, as to any saving uptaking of spiritual things. The will, which before was the Lord's deputy-governor there, endued with principles of true loyalty to its Supreme Master, is now turned traitor, and utterly perverse: having forsaken its allegiance to the great King, gathers in the rents of the crown to itself, and in very deed, with sacrilegious audacity, attemps to occupy the throne of the Highest. call it no more Naomi, but Marah; no more will, but lust; for we have dealt bitterly with ourselves. The affections, formerly subject to right reason, having lost their master, go up and down roving as lawless miscreants; set themselves on lawful objects excessively, and unlawful objects are their desire. Neither conscience nor memory can do their work. And the body with its members is made slave to this unruly beast; which also is made to serve the polluted piece of clay, which wants not a miserable influence on the more noble part of man.

But grace makes a change, and sets right the disjointed members, though not perfectly; for the saint's complete deliverance cometh not till the pins of this tabernacle of the body be loosed. The body of death remains till the death of the body. Then shall they be made perfect in holiness. But now they groan under the burden of indwelling sin, and, with Paul, cry out, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death!" That sin doth remain in the regenerate, is evident from Scripture and experience, against deluded perfectionists. Where it remains, is the question. The Dominican monks,* and some others, were of opinion, that though original sin remains after baptism, yet it is only in the inferior part of the soul, as they speak, or in the sensitive part; but not in the mind and will. Some have been of opinion that it remained only in the body, and that it was nothing else but desire of meat, &c. or sensual pleasures. No wonder these things entered into the minds of men, who were left to grow vain in their imaginations, without a due sense of the remaining corruption of nature. But I find some express themselves in this matter to this purpose, viz. That sin which is left in the regenerate, dwelleth in the body properly so called, and is as an enemy beat out of the town or stronghold, and lodging in the outworks, and as it were about the walls; from whence it makes its sallies, and infests the soul. Which I suppose we may soon find contrary to Scripture, reason, and experience.

ARGUMENT I. The Scripture plainly holds forth sin dwelling in the heart: Jer. 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" There is an unfathomable depth of wickedness therein, which none can search out unto perfection. Our Lord tells us, that the heart is the spring and source of all evil, Mark 7:21, "For from within, out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, &c. So Matth. 12:34, he brings a general reason to prove that the Pharisees being evil could not speak good things: "For" says he, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." These places are manifestly general, and agree both to good and bad. Is there not deceit and desperate wickedness even in the hearts of the regenerate? Have any such perfectly known their own hearts? Do not evil words proceed out of their mouth? This then is from the abundance of the heart. Hereunto add the necessary qualification requisite in those who shall have access to God in duties, "That they know every one the plague of his own heart," 1 Kings 8:38. Not without reason doth the wise man call for "keeping of the heart with all diligence,"* that we may set double guards on it. It plainly tells us that the heart is a deceitful thing, and bent to turn aside after crooked ways. Say not, that all the hazard is from the influence which the body hath on it; for the heart can go astray in such things wherein it is not capable of being influenced by the body, as will appear afterwards. But indeed if that were so, we should rather have been directed to keep the body with all diligence. But it is plain, the greatest hazard is from the heart; as Moses teacheth in that parallel place, Deut. 4:9, "Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently," &c. Mr. Gray speaks feelingly, and no less truly, concerning the heart: "I think," says he, "such is the desperate deceitfulness of our hearts, that if all the saints since Adam's days, and who shall be to the end of the world, had but one heart to guide, they would misguide it."

ARGUMENT II. The Spirit of God calls the regenerate to carry on the work of renovation in their souls, minds, and wills; which evidently holds forth, that there is much of the old man remaining there still, even in their souls, and that in the most noble faculties thereof: Rom. 12:2, "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind;" where it is clear the apostle is speaking to regenerate persons. Eph. 4:23, he calls those who had learned Christ, yet to be "renewed in the spirit of their minds." And the apostle speaking of himself, 2 Cor. 4:16. tells us, that "the inward man is renewed day by day." If any shall say, that by the renewing of the inward man, is meant the strengthening of the soul to bear afflictions; I grant the same without any prejudice to what we assert; for it supposeth a culpable weakness, in regard of which the soul hath need to be renewed. The apostle, Col. 3:10, teacheth the same doctrine; "And have put on the new man, which is renewed; kai endusamenoi ton neon, ton anakainoumenon; where I pray you take notice of the apostle's changing of the tense, "Ye have put on the new man which is renewed;" he speaks of the renovation in the present tense, denoting the continuance of the action. And that it relates to the mind is no less clear; for this new man is expressly said to be "renewed in knowledge." Hereunto add the apostle's prayer for the believing Thessalonians, 1 Thess. 5:23, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

And how frequently doth the Scripture discover the particular evils that are to be found in the soul as their proper place? as we may see in the apostle's prayer for the believing Ephesians, chap. 1:17, &c. So Col. 1:9, 10. How frequently does the Lord reprove his disciples for the relics of unbelief in them? The apostle confesseth, in the name of all believers, the great remains of darkness that are yet on their minds, 1 Cor. 13:12. But to recount such places as teach that sin is yet remaining in the mind and will, were an endless labour.

ARGUMENT III. There are many members of the body of death, which the godly groan under, that are purely spiritual; whereof the body can be no receptacle; and must needs remain in the soul, even in the mind and will; such as, Atheism, ignorance, hatred of God, unbelief, want of love to God, &c. That these and the like cannot be said to lodge in the body, is evident: for, 1. Some of these sins are mere privations; as, ignorance of, and want of love to God, &c.; privations, I say, of rectitude, that ought to be, not in the act, (for there is no act, but a cessation from action); but in the power, which is nothing else than the soul, mind, and affections; unless you will say that the body is capable to love God, which is most absurd. And no less absurd is it to assert the same anent the sensitive part of the soul, as they call it. 2. How can these sins be said to lodge there, where there cannot be so much as an imagination of their objects; as in hatred of God. The body is not capable thereof; in regard God is not the object of the fancy, but of the mind; so that we can have no imagination of him; he being infinitely removed from matter; and therefore as far from the imagination, as colours from hearing, sounds from the taste, or the most abstract notions from the soul of a beast. 3. Moreover, there are some sins founded on reflection, which the body is not capable of; as, pride, and lifting up of the soul, upon the account of its perceiving in itself ideas of the most sublime things, far removed from the knowledge of others. How such can be said to be driven out into the body, I persuade myself no man can show with any colour of reason; yet pride is not the least of the members of the body of death.

ARGUMENT IV. If the remains of original sin in the regenerate be not in the soul, but whatever remains of it be driven to the body; then original sin is quite razed out in regeneration, not only ut non imputetur, but ut non sit; it hath no more a being in the saints: and so there is no sin the regenerate are chargeable with but actual sin; and so all the children of God have been under a miserable mistake, while they confessed and bewailed their original corruption. All which is contrary to the Scriptures, and the sentiments of orthodox divines. I prove the connection: for if the remains of natural corruption lodge not in the soul, it hath no lodging in the man at all. The reason is, because the body, considered as contradistinct to the soul, is not subjectum capax; for the body as such is subject to no law; now, "where there is no law, there can be no transgression;" and if the body as such were subject to a law, then all bodies should be so; I mean of a moral law. If you say, the body is not considered here simply as a body, but as a constituent part of the man; I answer, That indeed the whole suppositum is under the law. But the formal reason of a man's being subjectible to a law, is rationality, which is the only thing that makes him capable to be directed by a law. So that, although sin may be from the body occasionally, as madness from the distemperature of the brain; and may be also in it terminatively, as whoredom, drunkenness, &c.; yet formally it is in the soul; which, against the law, complies with the temptation, which in some cases the body may have a deep share in; and the soul useth the members of the body for fulfilling the desires of sin, to which it is incited by the body. Whatever power we grant unto the body for stirring up the soul to sin, and whatever we say of that incitation considered simply as an action of the body; we judge it highly agreeable to reason, that the inciting to sin which is by the body, as it ariseth from a view of the object, is, at least interpretatively, an imperate act of the soul, which takes fire upon the first view of the species of the external object presented by the eyes, ears, &c.; and consequently follows that act of the soul, though the motion of the blood and spirits, thus commanded by the soul, adds fuel to the fire. For whence, I pray you, is the motion of the blood and spirits in the body inciting to sin, but from the soul, which, upon a view of the object, judgeth the same to be fit for it to enjoy hic et nunc; and so wills it with a sort of velleity at least; whereupon natively follow such motions in the body? This is evident from this, that when the practical judgment goes a contrary way, these motions in the body follow it in the same: though indeed, when once the devil is raised thus in the blood and spirits, the soul cannot easily lay him; because the will hath but a politic, not a despotic power over the fancy once set upon an object; as is too evident from experience. Had Achan, when he saw the Babylonish garment, and wedge of gold, judged they had been devils appearing in shape of bodies, doubtless quite contrary motions tending to aversation would have arisen in him. So that I think it is clear, that incitation to sin by the body, follows the conception of lust in the soul; and that the body is only the midwife helping to bring forth the unhappy birth.

From what is said it appears, that even actual sin is not formally in the body, but in the soul: for though the body may contribute something thereto in genere entis, yet the soul only gives all in genere moris. From thence is the anomia of the action. Now, if it be driven to the body, as is alleged, it surely stirs there; that is, original sin there breaks forth into action; which cannot be said, as we have already declared. And therefore we may safely thence conclude, it is not there; for where it is, there it will bring forth its unhappy births.

One thing more I add: That if the patrons of this opinion be of the judgment, that the soul doth not always think, by this argument they shall be obliged to say, that regenerate infants have no sin in them at all; nor godly persons adult, when they sleep, and do not dream: for sin is put out of the soul, they say, and the body is at rest.

ARGUMENT. V. If in regeneration indwelling sin be driven out of the soul into the body, then it is in the body, either in more or less, or in equal measure, as before conversion. In greater measure it cannot be, or then the renewing in the whole man falls to the ground; yea, the body is the worse of regeneration, and is so far from having old things done away, that they are increased to a greater height; which to reconcile to the privilege which the bodies of believers have in their union with Christ, and being the temples of the Holy Ghost, is impossible. If it be said, it is there in lesser measure than before; let them shew how that can be. Surely, according to their principles, sin properly had part of its lodging in the body before conversion. Now, what room it had in the soul, it has lost according to them. Wherefore it cannot be in less measure there than before; unless you say, that it bad less before conversion in the soul, than it had in the body. But experience flies in the face of this assertion: for those that are converted before they come to maturity, when they do come to years, find tenfold more difficulty in guiding their bodies, than they had before their conversion. If the last be said, then the body is nothing the better of regenerating grace; which is inconsistent with the union with Christ. If you say, that we just now confessed the body may be in a worse case after regeneration than before, wherefore much more equally evil with what it was before, I answer, That I ever denied the body to be a subject capable formally either of moral goodness or evil; and therefore in that respect it neither can be better nor worse. But otherwise, we must distinguish the state of the body with respect to nature, and with respect to grace. With respect to nature, and in itself, it may be indeed in a worse case, as was said; in so far as, by the power of nature grown up, it is more hard to be tamed and holden in than before. But in respect of grace conferred on the soul, when it is at its worst, it is in better case than when it was in its best natural state, the soul being graceless; as one is in a better case when he hath drunk in the precepts of sobriety, and has a faithful tutor, than when he was a child; though now both have more ado than formerly. This will more clearly appear, if we consider how the body is partaker of regenerating grace. Grace is not, nor cannot be formally and subjectively in the body, but objectively and reductively. It is not by way of inherence in it, but in respect of usefulness it is for it; for grace makes no change in the body, but in respect that the members of the body are thereby better employed than before, as the apostle teacheth, 1 Thess. 4:3, 4; 1 Cor. 6:19; Rom. 6:13. So then grace in the soul is the guide and tutor of the body, though the body be not formally gracious; even as the eye which sees alone, serves the whole body for light; for if the eye be single, the whole body will be full of light.

ARGUMENT VI. ult. The experience of the godly testifies, that sin is not so driven out of the soul as is pretented: for "who is so holy,* that he does not find much darkness in his understanding? great self-love in his will? that all his faculties do frequently go astray from what is true, just, and good?" &c. says Zanchius. Although the godly have much ado with their bodies, yet I conceive that the hardest work of all is with the heart. Nothing is more ordinary with exercised souls, than complaints of the deceitfulness of the heart; which they believe, though it wanted a corrupt body, or a devil to tempt, yet would prove a tempter and a devil to itself. Who finds not, when the body lies quite by from troubling, sufficient matter of exercise from a hard and dead heart? Who does not discern in themselves a root of Atheism, blasphemy, hatred of God, &c. all which are the kindly fruits of old Adam, springing from the cursed ground of the heart? And I doubt not, but if I could have access to the closet-doors of some such as stickle for this banishment of sin into the outworks, but I should hear them confess sin's lodging in the prime faculties of their souls, though in conference they refuse it.

One thing more I must add: That seeing distempers having their seat in the body are to be cured, not by the word, but by physical applications, when ministers have done their work in converting souls, they ought to turn them over into the hands of skilful physicians, the proper object of whose art is the body, as curable of distempers. But enough of this.

OBJECTION 1. The apostle (Rom. 7) teacheth us that sin dwells only in the body; ver. 24. "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death!" ver. 23. speaking of indwelling sin, he tells us, he "finds a law in his members;" and ver. 18. "I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, (i. e. the body), there dwells no good thing."

ANSWER. Vehemency of affection, whether of love or hatred, produceth several designations to the thing beloved or hated, the more to express the vehemency of the mind for or against the object. So was it with the apostle in the matter of indwelling sin, which was a most grevious burden to him. Wherefore sometimes he calls it sin by way of eminency, as being the great master-devil, Rom 5:12; sometimes lust, Rom. 7:7. to express the vehemency of its activity, Gal. 5:17; sometimes he speaks of it as an officious troublesome guest, Rom. 7:17, 20; sometimes he calls it a man, and an old man, Eph. 4:22. because of its antiquity, and subtilty, and strength. It is old indeed, yea the elder brother, though made to serve the younger. Here he calls it a body, and a body of death. The meaning is, says Piscator,* "Who shall deliver me from this death, which as a sort of body, or thing subsisting by itself, exerceth its power in me, and miserably vexeth me? But by death metonymically he understands indwelling sin." And indeed this very well agrees with the scope of the apostle; and chap. 6:6. he had called it a body. But why he should call his own body, which he knew was the temple of the Holy Ghost, a body of death, I see not. On good reason doth he call indwelling sin a body, in regard that as a body hath many members, so hath indwelling sin. It is not one simple lust, but a compound of all iniquity, and the seed and spawn of all unrighteousness. It is a complete body; it wants not one member: for as a believer hath every grace in the root and habit, so hath he every sin the same way dwelling in him; for let grace once be withdrawn there shall be a compliance with any temptation. And well might he call it a body of death, as being in its own nature a deadly thing, as loathsome as carrion, and devoted to death or destruction, being already nailed to the cross of Christ, Gal. 5:24. from which it was not to come down till it had breathed out its last. As to what the apostle says of his members, Piscator doth indeed understand it properly of the members of his body,* in which sin exerts its strength; yet doth not dream that the seat of sin is only or mainly in the body. And so we may understand it without prejudice to our cause; for it is plain sin may exert its strength there where it hath not its proper place of abode. Others think, that by members he means every faculty of soul and body; and so they will have the word taken, Rom. 6:13. James 4:1. If this be admitted, it weakens the cause of our adversaries. But I suppose the apostle here distinguishes two opposite parties in and from himself. The one he calls the inner man; the other he must be supposed to call the outer man. Let us see then what he means by those men which he speaks of. That he does not thereby understand the soul and the body, is clear to me upon these three accounts: 1. Because the inner man, in the act of sin, still stands out against the outer man; so that the inner man is blameless, ver. 20. But this cannot be said of the soul. 2. In the outer man there dwells no good thing, ver. 18; which to understand of the body, I shall afterwards shew to be absurd. I add, 3. That, as I said before, the outer and the inner man are really distinct from the man himself. Though they both be ours, yet they are not ourselves; which is plain, if ye consider, that, through the whole of this discourse, the man himself is holden forth as tossed betwixt these two; sometimes led by the one, sometimes by the other: the man himself is the prey; they are the two combatants that fight for the mastery over him; and accordingly the strongest party carries away the poor captive. According to the inner man, he delights in the law of God; which gives us to understand, that, according to the outer man, he is averse to it. Whence it is evident, these two are distinct from himself, and therefore cannot be his soul and body. Moreover, these two are elsewhere called by the apostle the new and old man; whereof the one is said to be put on, the other to be of the man himself. But though they be distinct really from the man himself, yet are they not divided or separated from him; both of them are in him, and diffused through the man, according to the capacity of each part. Whence it plainly appears, that these men are nothing else but grace and corruption, as the apostle teacheth, ver. 20.—"Sin that dwelleth in me." And hence we may easily perceive what he means by the members he speaks of. Why, even as the several graces of the Spirit are the members of the inner and new man, Eph. 4:24. so the several particular lusts of the heart are the members of the old and outer man; which members the apostle calls us to mortify, Col. 3:5. Now, in these members of his he finds a law; that is, activity, power and efficacy; for "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit," Gal. 5:17. "As laws," says Flavel,* "by virtue of their annexed rewards and punishments, have a mighty power and efficacy; so sin, indwelling sin, that root of all our trouble and sorrow, hath a mighty efficacy upon us." And by this law indwelling sin brings the soul into captivity to itself, the man being made captive to that law of sin which is in his members. Where we must take notice, that the apostle does not refer that being in his members to sin; if so indeed, this exposition would be ridiculous; but the words in the original plainly refer it to the law, to nomo tes hamartias to onti, holding forth the power and efficacy of original sin, which sets its several members on work. But to proceed: That the apostle calls his body his flesh, is false. For, 1. No good thing dwells in his flesh; but the Holy Spirit dwells in his body. 2. Will any say, that the law of sin is served only with the body, and the law of God only with the soul? But the apostle tells us, ver. 25. that with the mind he serves the law of God, with the flesh the law of sin; where he assigns to each part its proper work and service. We say then, that the apostle does not here distinguish the soul from the body, but corrupt nature from grace, and himself as regenerate, from himself so far as he was unregenerate. And so the apostle, Gal. 5:19, &c. while he reckons up the works of the flesh, he placeth among them heresies; which, if any thing, do belong to the soul: and among the works of the Spirit we find temperance; which the body may claim on as good grounds as any good thing else. And it is remarkable, that when the apostle speaks of the state of non-regeneration, while men are totally under the power of corruption, he calls it being in the flesh, Rom. 7:5. not in the body I am sure. And in this way of speaking of corruption the apostle follows Christ himself, in his conference with Nicodemus, about the necessity of regeneration, John 3:6. "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh;" not a body in opposition to a soul, but corrupt, and therefore standing in need to be born again. Only, to hold forth the necessity more strongly, he calls it not fleshly, but flesh itself, in the abstract: q. d. It is nothing but a very lump of sin and corruption.

OBJECTION 2. Rom. 6:12. "Let not therefore sin reign in your mortal body:"* Ergo, Sin remains only in the body, not in the soul.

ANSWER. Some tell us here that by the body is meant, synecdochially, the whole man; as, upon the other hand, the Spirit of God, in the Scripture, under the name of soul, comprehends the body also. But the epithet given by the apostle to the body while he calls it mortal, seems to restrain it to the body properly and strictly taken. Therefore we pass that, and deny the consequence, on good grounds: for it is plain here, the apostle speaks metaphorically of sin's power as a king: but who will say, but a king may reign there where his seat is not? wherever sin remains, it is certain where it hath not lost the reigning power, it reigns through the whole man, soul and body. Shepherd tells us, that here is, 1. Obedience, i. e. the outward acts; 2. Lusts, the inward breathings; 3. Sin itself, where the lusts are seated. "This, therefore," says he, "is the reigning sin, which hath taken possession of every part." And no doubt sin may work there where it hath not its proper seat, as a king reigns in the remotest parts of his dominions.

OBJECTION 3. ult. "That which is born of the Spirit, is spirit," John 3:6. Ergo, There are no remains of sin left in the soul.

ANSWER. The body is, suo quodam modo, born of the Spirit, as well as the soul: for the leaven of grace leavens the whole man; grace makes not a new soul only, but a new creature; "Old things are done away, and behold, all things are become new," 2 Cor. 5:17. The body, as well as the spirit, is Christ's, 1 Cor. 6. ult.; yea the bodies of the regenerate are members of Christ; yet are they not wholly renewed. So say we of the soul: the whole soul is cleansed, but not wholly. Were men perfectly born of the Spirit, they should be altogether spirit; but this renovation is carried on by degrees only.

"For," as Luther saith, "we have got the first-fruits of the Spirit; the leaven is hid in the lump; but the lump is not wholly leavened; it is begun to be leavened."

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Huwebes, Nobyembre 19, 2020

"This Thing Is from Me" (Charles H. Spurgeon, 1834-1892)

1 Kings 12:24

“Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.”


It is very delightful to read a history in which God is made prominent. How sadly deficient we are of such histories of our own English nation! Yet surely there is no story that is more full of God than the record of the doings of our British race. Cowper, in one of his poems, shows the parallel between us and the house of Israel, and he dwells upon various special incidents in our history, and draws valuable lessons therefrom. God's wisdom and power have been conspicuous from the time when this now full-grown nation was but like a puling chit. He has nursed and watched over it, protecting it against gigantic foes, and making it to be the defender of his truth, the favored abode of his people. Oh, for a historian who could dip his pen in thoughts of God, and who, from beginning to end of his history, would not be showing us the crafty policy of kings and cabinets, but the finger of God! We want, nowadays, to have history written in some such style as appears in these Books of Samuel, and Kings, and Chronicles; then might history become almost like a new Bible to us. We should find that, as the book of revelation agrees with the book of creation, so does the book of divine providence in human history agree with both of them, for the same God is the Author of all these works. If we cannot get anybody to write such histories, yet let us continually amend the errata, and add appendices to such records as we have, for God is God, and God is everywhere, and blessed is the man who learns to spy him out.

Notice, next, what I pointed out to you in our reading, what power was possessed by God's prophets under the Old Testament. Here is one Shemaiah,—some of you never heard of him before, perhaps you will never hear of him again; he appears once in this history, and then he vanishes; he comes, and he goes,—only fancy this one man constraining to peace a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, warriors ready to fight against the house of Israel, by giving to them in very plain, unpolished words, the simple command of God: "Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren, the children of Israel: return every man to his house;" and it is added, "they hearkened therefore to the Word of the Lord, and returned to depart, according to the Word of the Lord." Why have we not such power? Peradventure, brethren, we do not always speak in the name of the Lord, or speak God's Word as God's Word. If we are simply tellers out of our own thoughts, why should men mind us? If we speak the word which we ourselves have fashioned, what is there in our anvil that it should command respect for what we make upon it? But if we can rise to the height of this great argument, and speak the truth as messengers of God, and there leave it, believing in it ourselves, and expecting great results from it, I wot that there will come more from our ministries than we have ever seen as yet. When the apostle Peter spoke to the lame man at the temple gate, he said, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk;" and he did rise up and walk because the name of Jesus Christ was relied upon; and we have need to preach the gospel, not as though our suasion, much less our oratory, were to prevail with men, but believing that there is an intrinsic power in the gospel, and that God the Holy Ghost will go with it to work the divine purpose, and accomplish the decrees of the Most High. We have need to stand near to God, and to be more completely overshadowed by his presence, and to be ourselves more fully believers in the Divine Majesty, and then shall we see greater things than these. Surely, God must have meant that, under the New Testament, there should be a power in his Word even greater than that which rested on it under the Old Testament.

Note one more lesson conveyed by this incident. It would be a grand thing to preach only one sermon, and to be as successful as Shemaiah was; it would be far better than to preach ten thousand, and to accomplish nothing by them all I hope the net result of our ministry will not be like that of the famous leader who with his troops marched up a hill and then marched down again. A man may take many years to say nothing, and he may very elaborately and very eloquently discharge himself of that which it was totally unnecessary for him to have said; but it would be better far to be surcharged with one message, and to deliver that one in the power of Almighty God, even if the speaker's voice is never heard again. I pray that those of us who do preach the gospel may preach each sermon as if that one discourse were worth a lifetime, worth the putting forth of every faculty that we possess, so that, if we never preached again, we might nevertheless have done a life-work in a single sermon. What an opportunity is mine to-night! What an opportunity you also will have, my brother, when you confront your congregation next Lord's-day, an opportunity which angels might envy you! Though you do not gather together a hundred and eighty thousand men, yet you may reach as many as that through the one sermon you are going to preach next Sabbath, for one person converted by the Holy Ghost, through you, may be the means of bringing in many others, and eventually there may come out of your one effort a harvest that cannot be counted. A forest once slept within a single acorn-cup. The beginning of the great lies in the little. Let us therefore earnestly pray God that we may preach as dying men to dying men, and deliver each discourse as if that one message was quite enough to serve for our whole life-work. We need not wish to preach another sermon provided we are enabled so to deliver that one that the purpose of God shall be accomplished by us, and the power of his Word shall be seen upon our hearers.

With these remarks by way of preliminary observations, I want to prove to you from our text that, first, some events are very specially from God; secondly, when they are seen to be from God, they are not to be fought against; and, thirdly, this general principle has many special applications, some of which we shall try to make.

I. First, SOME EVENTS ARE SPECIALLY FROM GOD: "This thing is from me."

I do not know what some people believe, for they seem to try to do without God altogether; but I believe that God is in all things,—that there is neither power, nor life, nor motion, nor thought, nor existence apart from him. "In him we live, and move, and have our being." By him all things exist and consist. Like foam upon the wave, all things would dissolve away did not God continue them, did not God uphold them. I see God in everything, from the creeping of an aphis upon a rose-bud to the fall of a dynasty. I believe that God is in the earthquake and the whirlwind; but I believe him to be equally in the gentlest zephyr, and in the fall of the sere leaf from the oak of the forest. Blessed is that man to whom there exists nothing in which he cannot see the presence of God. It makes this world a grand sphere when God is seen everywhere in it from the deepest mine to the remotest star. This earth is a wretched dark dungeon if once the light of the presence and the working of God be taken away from it.

Notice also, dear friends, that God is in events which are produced by the sin and the stupidity of men. This breaking up of the kingdom of Solomon into two parts was the result of Solomon's sin and Rehoboam's folly; yet God was in it: "This thing is from me, saith the Lord." God had nothing to do with the sin or the folly, but in some way which we can never explain, in a mysterious way in which we are to believe without hesitation, God was in it all. The most notable instance of this truth is the death of our Lord Jesus Christ; that was the greatest of human crimes, yet it was foreordained and predetermined of the Most High, to whom there can be no such thing as crime, nor any sort of compact with sin. We know not how it is, but it is an undoubted fact that a thing may be from God, and yet it may be wrought, as we see in this case, by the folly and the wickedness of men; neither does this in the least degree interfere with human agency in its utmost freedom. Some who have held that man is a free agent have attempted to vindicate free agency as if predestination were the contradiction of it, which it is not; we who believe in predestination also believe in free agency as much as they do who reject the other truth. Others hold predestination, and straightway they begin to rail at all who believe in the responsibility and free agency of men. My brothers, there is nothing to rail at in either doctrine, the two things are equally true. "How, then," asks someone, "do you reconcile them?" These two truths have never fallen out, as far as I know, and it is poor work to try to reconcile those who are true friends. "But," says the objector, "how do you make them seem to be true friends?" I do not make them seem to be true friends. I bless God that there are some things in the Bible which I never expect to understand while I live here. A religion which I could perfectly understand would be no religion to me; when I had mastered it, it would never master me. But to my mind it is a most delightful thing for the believer to bow before inscrutable mysteries, and to say, "My God, I never thought that I was infinite, I never dreamt that I could take thy place, and understand all things; I believe, and I am content." So I believe in the free agency of men, in their responsibility and wickedness, and that everything evil cometh of them; but I also believe in God, that "this thing" which, on the one side of it, was purely and alone from men, on another side of it was still from God, who rules both evil and good, and not only walks the garden of Eden in the cool of a summer's eve, but walks the billows of the tempestuous sea, and ruleth everywhere by his sovereign might.

How, then, was "this thing" from God? Well, clearly, it was from God in two ways. First, it was so as a matter of prophecy. The prophet Ahijah had prophesied that the ten parts of the rent garment which were given to Jeroboam should be symbolic of the ten tribes that would be given to him when they had been torn away from the house of David. The prophecy was literally fulfilled, as God's words always are.

And, secondly, "this thing" was from God as a matter of punishment. He sent it as a punishment for the sins of the house of David of which Solomon had been guilty when he set up other gods before the Most High, and divided the allegiance of his kingdom from Jehovah by bringing in the gods of Moab, and Ammon, and Egypt. God ordained this evil that he might chastise the greater evil of want of loyalty to himself on the part of his servant Solomon. Yea, my brethren, God setteth evil against evil that he may destroy evil, and he uses that which cometh of human folly that he may manifest his own wisdom.

So there are some events which are specially from the Lord, although it seemeth not so; and this is to us often a great source of consolation. We have said to ourselves, "However did things get into this tangle and snarl?" Look at the professing church at this present moment, what is there about it that can at all cheer the child of God? All things appear dark and complicated; they seem to be built on a quicksand; and that which is superficial, and unsubstantial, and dreamy, and deceptive is everywhere. Still, the Lord liveth, and the rock of our salvation faileth not. As he makes the wrath of man to praise him, so doth he also with the folly and the wickedness of man, and the remainder of both he doth restrain. "The Lord sitteth upon the floods; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever." Hallelujah!

II. The second thing evidently taught by our text is that, WHEN EVENTS ARE SEEN TO BE FROM THE LORD, THEY ARE NOT TO BE FOUGHT AGAINST.

Rehoboam had summoned his soldiers to go to war against the house of Israel; but, inasmuch as it was from God that the ten tribes had revolted from him, he must not march into the territories of Israel, nor even shoot an arrow against them.

The thing that is happening to you is of the Lord, therefore resist it not, for it would be wicked to do so. If it be the Lord's will, so may it be. To put our will against his will, is sheer rebellion against him. Trace an event as distinctly from God, and then the proper course of action is that which the psalmist took, "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it." Absolute submission is not enough, we must go on to joyful acquiescence in the will of God. If the cup be bitter, our acquiescence must take it as cheerfully as if it were sweet. "Hard lines," say you. "To hard hearts," say I; but when our hearts are right with God, so well do we love him that, if it ever came to a conflict anywhere, whether it should be our will or his will that should prevail, we should at once end the conflict by saying, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." It is nothing but wickedness, whatever form it assumes, when we attempt to resist the will of God.

But, next, while it is wicked, it is also vain, for what can we do against the will of God? Shall the rush by the river resist the north wind? Shall the dust rise up in conflict with the tempest? God is almighty; if that were all, it were enough, for who can stand against his power? But he is also all-wise; and if we were as wise as he is, we should do as he does. Moreover, he is all goodness, and he is ever full of love. Judged of according to the divine understanding, everything that he willeth must be right. Why, then, shall I dare contend against his strength, his wisdom, and his love? It must be useless so to do. Who hath resisted his will? Who could succeed if he did?

Next, it would be mischievous, and would be sure to bring a greater evil upon us if we did resist. Had this king Rehoboam gone out to fight with the far greater tribes which had revolted, it might have resulted in the desolation of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem. He was much wiser in putting up his sword into its sheath, for it would have been disastrous to the last degree for him to break the command of God, and go to war against Israel. And depend upon it, brothers, there is no way of bringing afflictions upon ourselves like refusing to bear afflictions. If we will not bear the yoke that is laid upon us, and heed the gentle tugging of the rein, then the goad and the whip will be used upon us. Nothing involves us in so much sorrow as our refusal to submit to sorrow. If we will not take up the cross, the cross, mayhap, will take us up; and that is a far worse lot than the other. Endure, submit, acquiesce, it is the easiest way, after all; for if thou art a child of God, and thou rebellest against him, thou wilt have to smart for it. But if thou art not his child, and thou rebellest, like proud Pharaoh, God will set thee up to be a monument for men to wonder at as they see how sternly Jehovah dealeth with stubborn sinners who say, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?" Whenever, therefore, a thing is distinctly from the Lord, it is not to be resisted.

III. Now I come to what may be more interesting to you, that is, to make a practical application of this subject, for THIS GENERAL PRINCIPLE HAS MANY SPECIAL APPLICATIONS. I believe it often happens that events are most distinctly from the Lord, and when it is so, our right and proper way is to yield to them.

I could narrate many very singular things that have happened to me, but I will not; only I am reminded just now of one that I will tell you. There sat, one Sabbath day, in that left-hand gallery, a young Hindoo gentleman wearing a scarlet sash. I preached that morning from this text, "What if thy father answer thee roughly?" and I had hardly reached the vestry at the back before this young Hindoo gentleman was there with an aged man, who is now with God,—a well-known Christian man,—and all in a hurry the young man said, "Sir, has Mr. E_____ told you about me?" "No," I said, "I have not seen him for months; what could he have told me about you?" "Are you sure that you never heard of me before?" "To my knowledge, I never heard of you, and never saw you before." "Well then, sir," he said, "there is a God, and that God is in this place." "How so?" I asked. "Last night, I told this gentleman here," he answered, "that I was almost persuaded to be a Christian; but that, when I went home to India, I should be disinherited by my father, and I felt sure that I should not have the courage to stand out as a Christian; and then my friend said, 'Come and hear Mr. Spurgeon to-morrow morning,' and I came in here, and you preached from those words, 'What if thy father answer thee roughly?' Verily," he said, "the God of the Christians is God, and he has spoken to me this day." That was another illustration of our text, "This thing is from me." Has it not often happened so? The providential working of the Holy Ghost is a very wonderful subject. They who are the Holy Ghost's servants learn to depend upon him for every word they are to utter; they sometimes feel their flesh creep, and almost every hair on their head stand on end at the way in which they have unconsciously spoken so as to depict to the very life the character of their hearers,—casual hearers, perhaps,—as if they had photographed them though they knew them not. Oh, you who are the Lord's workers, commit yourselves to God's guidance; the more you can do it, the better, for often and often you will have to say of an event that happens to you, "This thing is from the Lord."

Again, dear friends, another case in which this principle applies is when severe afflictions arise. I think that, of all afflictions to which we should bow most readily, those take the first place that are distinctly from the Lord; for instance, the deaths of dear friends, or when we cannot accuse ourselves of having done anything that can have contributed to the affliction that has come upon us, or when we have suffered losses in business though we have been engaged honestly and industriously in doing all we can to provide things honest in the sight of all men. There are some afflictions which remind me of a term which I have seen in the charters of ships,—"the act of God." Certain calamities at sea are called "the act of God." So there are certain events in life which may be very terrible and very sorrowful, but if they are the act of God, they come to us thus distinguished, "This is from God." Will you not accept it from the Lord?" Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" Will we not say, with Job, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord"? "This thing is from me." O thou who art his child, accept the chastisement from thy Father's hand, and kiss the rod with which he smites thee!

Sometimes, also, we are troubled by certain disquieting plans proposed by our friends or our children. We do not like their schemes, and we say, "No, do not act so; it seems to me to be quite wrong;" yet, sometimes, a boy will do this and that; or a friend has made up his mind to take a certain course, and, at last, when you have pleaded, and persuaded, and urged, and done your best to turn them from their purpose, if the thought should creep into your mind, "Peradventure, this thing is from God," then stay your persuasions, as Paul's friends when he would not be persuaded, ceased to argue with him. Sometimes, that which seems to be a great mistake may, nevertheless, in the hand of God, prove to be the right course; our judgment is but fallible, but the judgment of the Most High is always correct. Struggle not too long, lest thou bring thyself into another sorrow; but be willing to yield at the right time, saying, "Peradventure, this thing is from the Lord."

A very pleasant phase of this same truth is when some singular mercy comes. Have not many of you experienced some very remarkable deliverances? Has not God been pleased to open for you rivers in the desert, and waters in high places, where waters are not usually found? Well, whenever singular and startling mercy comes to you, say, "This is from God." It is a delightful thing when you get a present from a very choice friend who says, "This is from me." You value it all the more because of the person from whom it comes. If thou hast nothing but a crust of bread, take thy knife and cut it, and say, "This is from the Lord." But if he has given thee a downy bed on which to rest thy weary limbs, and if he has indulged thee with many luxuries, say thou, "This is from the Lord," and everything shall be the brighter and the better to thee because he gave it. It is the best part of the gift. Often, a little thing, which we might despise in itself, becomes invaluable because of the giver; and all thy life shall be full of rich treasure, ay, with very "curios" worthy to be stored away, and looked at with admiration throughout the rest of thy days, because "This is from me," is so clearly written upon them all.

Still applying the principle of our text, let me remind you that, when a man receives a very striking warning, he ought to hear a voice at the back of it, saying, "This thing is from me." When near to die, wrecked, almost aground, or delivered out of an awful accident, if such has been thy case, hear thou, man, out of all the hurry-burly from which thou hast escaped, "This is from me." A soldier, who has heard the bullets whistle by his ear, or who comes out of a battle lopped of a limb but still alive, should hear this voice, "This is from me." Oh, that men would hear the voice of God, and turn from their sins! If the Lord has been so gracious as to spare thy life, count that his long-suffering means to thee repentance, and that his sparing thee is a call to thee to give up thy sins, and turn to him.

The same principle applies when it is not a striking warning, but when it happens that men have some tender emotions stealing over them. Some of you to whom I am speaking are unconverted, but there have been times when, in the house of God, you have felt very strangely. You may not have actually prayed, but you have almost prayed that you might pray. "Please God I once get home," you have said, "I will go to my room, and fall upon my knees before him." Have not even the most thoughtless of you, when alone, felt as if you must think? In the watches of the night, have you not been made to consider? A policeman, who came to join the church this week, said to me, "Often, when I tread my solitary beat, I feel as if I must think of God. He seems so very near me when there is not a sound to be heard except the tread of my own feet." Well, if ever you feel that, yield to it. O dear hearts, if ever you find an unusual softness stealing over you, do not resist it! It may be that it is the blessed Spirit come to emancipate you from your obstinacy and hardness, and to bring you into the new life,—the life of tenderness and love. When he draws thee, run after him. Let tender impulse and gentle drawing suffice thee, for all is for thy good. Yield yourselves to the Spirit's influence even now. While he bids thee, believe in Jesus, and live. While he whispers to thee, "Repent," repent, and be converted. God grant it, of his infinite mercy! Our time has gone; but may what has been spoken be remembered throughout eternity because it can truly be said, "This thing is from me, saith the Lord."

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