Light Affliction and Eternal Glory (J. C. Philpot, 1857)

2 Corinthians 4:17,18

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 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.” 

From the cradle to the coffin, affliction and sorrow are the appointed lot of man. He comes into the world with a wailing cry, and he often leaves it with an agonizing groan. Well is this earth called "a valley of tears," for it is wet with them in infancy, youth, manhood, and old age. In every land, in every climate, scenes of misery and wretchedness everywhere meet the eye, besides those deeper griefs and heart-rending sorrows which lie concealed from all observation; so that we may well say of the life of man that, like Ezekiel's scroll, it is "written within and without, and there is written therein lamentations, and mourning and woe."

But this is not all. The scene does not end here. We see up to death, but we do not see beyond death. To see a man die without Christ is like standing at a distance, and seeing a man fall from a lofty cliff– we see him fall, but we do not see the crash on the rocks below. So we see a man die, but when we gaze upon the lifeless corpse, in the case of him who dies without a saving interest in Christ, we do not see how his soul falls with a mighty crash upon the rock of God's eternal justice. After weeks or months of sickness and pain, the pale, cold face may lie in calm repose under the coffin lid, when the soul is only just entering upon an eternity of woe!

But is it all thus dark and gloomy both in life and death? Is heaven always hung with a canopy of black? Are there no beams of light, no rays of gladness, that shine through these dark clouds of affliction, misery, and woe that are spread over the human race? Yes; there is one point in this dark scene out of which beams of light and rays of glory shine. It is as if looking up in a dark and gloomy night, when the heavens gathered blackness, we saw all at once the clouds rent asunder, and the cross of Christ hung up in the sky, from every point of which beamed forth rays of unspeakable glory.

So it is with the children of God as they journey through this valley of tears– they are afflicted like other men, their fellow sinners and fellow mortals, and often a larger portion of affliction falls to their lot than to those whose portion is in this life. By these sufferings and sorrows they are bowed down with grief and trouble, and all is dark and gloomy without and within; but a ray of light falls upon their soul; they look up, and they see a once suffering Jesus, now sitting at the right hand of the Father, and around his glorious throne they view a band of immortal spirits, who have come out of great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Those are the great "cloud of witnesses" to the love and faithfulness of a covenant God, who seem to speak from heaven to earth and say– "Brother, suffer on! The cross before the crown; the cup of wormwood and gall, the baptism of suffering and blood, before the pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore." They are thus encouraged "to run with patience the race set before them, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of their faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

The Apostle, in the words before us, would thus cheer us onward, and show unto us why we should, not only with all patience but all joy, endure the sufferings that God may think fit to lay upon us in this time state. He unravels this deep mystery of present suffering; he solves that dark enigma which has perplexed so many saints of God, which filled Job with confusion, set Asaph in slippery places, and made Jeremiah curse the day of his birth. He stands forth, as a heaven-taught interpreter, to explain the dealings of God; as a divinely-commissioned ambassador, he unfolds the counsels of the King of kings, and proclaims aloud to the suffering church of Christ, in words full of peace and blessedness– "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 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."

In opening up, with God's blessing, the spiritual meaning of these words, I shall–

I. First, show how our affliction, in this present state, is but light, and endures, speaking comparatively, but for a moment.

II. Secondly, what the blessed fruit of this light affliction is– that when sanctified by the Spirit and grace of God, it "works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

III. Thirdly, how it does this; that is, in two ways– first, by enabling us to look not at the things which are seen, that are temporal; and secondly, by enabling us to look at the things which are not seen, which are eternal.

I. How our affliction, in this present state, is but light, and endures, speaking comparatively, but for a moment. "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment." That little word "light" may not exactly express the present feelings of your heart. You may feel, on the contrary, that your afflictions are very far from being light. They press you down to the very ground; they are just now exceedingly heavy; and sometimes they bow down both body and soul into the dust. Nor does the other expression of the apostle seem to suit your case; for instead of your afflictions being "but for a moment," they have already been spread over many months or years; and it seems at times, from their peculiar character and nature, that they must continue to be spread over the remainder of your life.

But neither our feelings nor our forebodings are to be taken as proofs of how the matter really stands. We must receive God's testimony, which is and ever must be infallibly true, and not take the testimony of our feelings or fears, which is necessarily fallible and usually false.

But let us cast our eye a little more closely upon the afflictions that God's saints are especially called to endure, for it is of believers that the apostle speaks. It is THEIR afflictions which are light, and endure but for a moment; it is their griefs and sorrows which "work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." And these afflictions, by way of clearness, we may divide into two leading classes. There are, first, temporal afflictions– those trials and sorrows more peculiarly connected with our present state, which the children of God have in common with all mankind; and there are, secondly, spiritual afflictions, which, as connected with the work of grace, are necessarily confined to the family of Christ.

1. TEMPORAL afflictions. As men, fallen men, partakers of flesh and blood, heirs of that sad legacy of sin that Adam left to all his ruined race, and living in a world of sorrow and woe, we must needs have our measure of those temporal afflictions that were entailed upon all the posterity of our first parent. Looking at those, then, in a broad and general light, we may distribute them into various classes– such as bodily afflictions, family sorrows, providential trials. In fact, every suffering of body or mind that people are subject to by reason of the fall, comes in its measure upon the heads of God's children. And as the Lord, for wise reasons, sees good to lay the heaviest weights where they are most needed, temporal afflictions, generally speaking, fall in larger measure upon them.

1. How many of the saints of God, and some of them dear friends of my own, are at this moment lying on beds of affliction and languishing. Nor do I know scarcely a Christian whose soul is really thriving before God, who has not some measure of BODILY affliction. In fact, it seems almost needful that we should have a certain measure of it. I myself for many years have had a large experience of bodily affliction, which has been one of my heaviest crosses, and has cut the very sinews of all that worldly happiness and pleasure which healthy men seem to enjoy. I, therefore, not only well know its nature, but I trust also in some measure its necessity, and the benefit it communicates to the soul when sanctified by the grace of God.

We are such foolish, giddy creatures that we are hardly fit to be trusted with health. It is like putting an inexperienced rider upon a high-tempered, spirited horse– he is unable to control the animal which he rides, and a heavy fall that may cripple him for life may be the consequence of his getting upon its back. When we are in vigorous health and strength, the blood seems to bound through every artery and vein; we are full of high spirits, life, and animation. It seems as if there was abundance of happiness in the world all around us, in the sun and sky above us, in the fields and flowers beneath us, in the balmy breath of spring that blows upon us. To breathe, to live, to move, to walk, all are pleasurable for their own sake, when the body is in strong, vigorous health, the appetite good, the spirits buoyant, and air and exercise exhilarate and delight the physical frame. It is said of the pure air of Australia, that it is a delight even to breathe it. Thus we would delight in life for what life is and has, be content with breathing 'earthly' air, and, left to ourselves, would make our Paradise below the skies.

To overthrow this heathenish sensuality, this godless 'love of living'; to put a bitter into every natural sweet; to lay a daily cross upon the shoulder (for if health is the greatest temporal blessing, the lack of it must needs be the greatest temporal misery); to drop gall and wormwood into the cup of life, the Lord sees fit in most cases– for we cannot lay down a rigid rule– to lay affliction upon his children, and in very many cases to give commission to illness and disease to invade their earthly tabernacle. By this they learn that the happiness of physical health, which after all, is but the happiness of a bird or a butterfly, is no more to be theirs; that this avenue of pleasure is forever shut against them; and that a fallen body has for them its pains and sorrows as well as a fallen soul. Thus the world is marred to them, with all its pursuits and pleasures; they see nothing below the skies really worth living for, or capable of affording happiness; and when, under all the pain and languor of their afflicted body, they find the Lord near and dear to their heart, 'sanctified illness' is proved to them far better than 'unsanctified health', and pain of body a far less evil than pain of conscience.

2. FAMILY afflictions form another frequent source of grief and sorrow to those that love the Lord, and whom the Lord loves. Many of the most eminent saints of God have had to drink of this most bitter cup in a large measure. What afflictions of this nature befell DAVID! How he, if possible, would have given his own life for that of his rebellious son Absalom– so deeply did he feel his death, and as Joab reproached him, would sooner have lost all his fighting army than that one beloved idol.

How arrow after arrow from the same quarter pierced also the tender heart of the patriarch JACOB! Every shaft that quivered in his bosom came tipped with some family sin, or some family sorrow. It needs must be so more or less with most. Our earthly happiness is much derived from our families. We love our wives, we love our children; they are dear and near to us, a part of ourselves; and these ties, so tender and so close, form a main part of the sweetness that is in any earthly lot. That we may not, then, set up these 'family idols' as our household gods, nor cleave too closely in affection to them, it needs must be that gall and wormwood should be dropped into this cup, lest it prove too sweet; lest we love our wives, children, relations, and friends too dearly; lest they usurp the place of God, and by becoming idols, chain and fetter us down too closely to earth.

Entangled in these silken ties, we would grow more and more attached to this life; and in proportion as these fibers of sin and self entwined themselves more closely around our heart, would they eat out the life of God, and drain away all our spiritual strength and vital sap. As, then, to save the oak, the ivy is cut down, so the axe must fall to sever these too ensnaring, these too tender ties. And as they become cut or loosened, more room seems made for the things of eternity– more room for the Lord Jesus Christ, and for those spiritual affections to expand and grow, which, as drawn up by the Sun of Righteousness, spread themselves upward to that heaven where he is, and whence they came down.

3. Many, again, of the Lord's people are heavily weighed down with POVERTY. God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith, as knowing that "the love of money is the root of all evil," and therefore mercifully cuts the root to prevent the evil. Poverty starves a good deal of 'self-indulgence' by denying the means; and thus the poor are cut off from the gratification of many "foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition" by the very lack of means possessed by the rich to gratify them. Still, if poverty has its blessings, it has its miseries; and under them many who fear God deeply groan.

2. SPIRITUAL afflictions. But these temporal afflictions (though the Lord often makes them very heavy to his children, whose feelings are tender, and who often, through unbelief and fear, misread his mind in sending them) are all light compared with those of a spiritual nature, and which, as such, are of course peculiar to the saints of God. What is loss of health, of family, of friends, of property, to the hidings of God's face– to guilt of conscience– to distressing fears as to the reality of the work of grace upon the soul– to anticipations of that tremendous wrath of God which is revealed in a broken law? What are all the temporal afflictions that may be heaped upon one's head compared with the frown of the Almighty, the arrows of his wrath, the touch of his weighty hand, or dismal forebodings of sinking forever beneath his offended justice and most terrible displeasure?

An arrow in the conscience, shot by the unerring bow of God, will make a man truly and deeply miserable until it is extracted by the same hand that inflicted it. The wound that God's Spirit gives can only be healed by the balm that God's Spirit applies. Spiritual griefs weigh heavy; heart sorrows sink deep; distress of mind and guilt of conscience penetrate into every recess of the soul. And they have this peculiar ingredient in them– that makes their stroke so bitter– that they all seem but foretastes of heavier and deeper woes to come, and that without hope or help, relief or end, through a miserable eternity.

Let afflictions of a temporal kind be heaped upon your head– they cannot always last; they must sooner or later come to a close, and if not before, they must cease with the ceasing of natural life. But anticipations of God's terrible displeasure– fears lest you should die without hope and sink into everlasting despair– this is truly overwhelming when it falls upon the conscience as a dreaded or almost certain reality. What aggravates the feeling of all these dismal fears so much is the terrible conviction that when temporal trials come to a close, eternal sorrows only begin.

But besides this, there are many and various spiritual afflictions which are consistent with a good hope through grace; no, with a sweet assurance of coming off more than conqueror; but these I cannot now enter into, as I have scarcely begun with my text. I therefore pass on to show how they are "light."

But how can the apostle call them "LIGHT?" We do not feel them so. Does the man of God write here with the pen of the Holy Spirit, when he so contradicts our feeling and experience? Is he describing the sorrows and sufferings of the saints in their right colors when he says they are light? "How can they be light if I feel them heavy?" –so reasons our heart. But the Holy Spirit, we may be well assured, makes no mistake here. He describes things as they really are– as they are in God's sight, which must be right– not as they are in our view or apprehension, which may be, and usually is, altogether wrong.

But let us see if, with God's help and blessing, we cannot cast some ray of gospel light upon this expression, and not merely assent to it upon the apostle's authority, but set to it also the seal of a living, gracious experience.

1. First, look, then, at YOUR DESERVINGS. See what you have merited by your disobedience– how you have brought yourself under the curse of God's righteous law. Take a retrospect of your past life. Cast up the sins that you have committed from the time that early reason dawned– sins of infancy, of boyhood, of youth, of manhood; sins before the Lord was pleased to enlighten you by his Spirit and call you by his grace. Take a review, next, of your slips and falls since you were called– think how you have sinned again and again against light and conscience, love and blood. What ingratitude, rebellion, pride, self-righteousness, carnality, and worldliness you have been guilty of! What lusts you have harbored– what feelings of envy, jealousy, and wrath you have indulged, even against the saints of God!

Look at the poor returns you have made to the Lord for those temporal favors which he has bestowed so abundantly upon you, and the still poorer returns for the spiritual mercies which he has so kindly heaped upon your head. Put them into one scale and all your afflictions, both temporal and spiritual, into the other. Are your afflictions heavy now? Weigh your deservings against your afflictions– then examine the scale and see whether your afflictions are heavy or light. "No," say you; "I am satisfied now; if I had my afflictions doubled, tripled– aye, I might go on and say increased a hundred-fold, all, all would be lighter than my deservings; all, all infinitely less than my sins committed against a holy God merit at his hands!"

2. But again, look at the word "light" in this point of view– compare your sufferings and afflictions with the torments of those who are lying forever beneath God's terrible indignation. Listen to the groans, the cries, the blasphemies of the damned in hell! Compare your afflictions with theirs. Have you a good hope through grace? Has the Lord Jesus Christ ever been made precious to your soul? Do you ever believe that you shall be with him in the realms of eternal bliss? Compare your afflictions, though they may be heavy in themselves, with what the lost are now enduring in the realms of eternal woe! Are your afflictions heavy now?

3. Again, compare your afflictions and sufferings with those of the Lord Jesus. Was your back ever mangled with stripes? Was your head ever crowned with thorns? Were nails ever driven through your feet and hands? Did you ever hang upon the cross amid the taunts of jeering foes, the forsaking of disciples, the hiding of God's face, the withdrawing of the light of the sun, and the sins of millions charged upon your head with all the wrath of God due to them? Did you ever sweat great drops of blood? Was your soul ever bowed down within you, so that you were baptized as Jesus was with a bloody baptism, and drank the cup of suffering to the last dregs? Look at the suffering Jesus! Behold the Lamb of God in the garden and on the cross!

Where are your sufferings now? A little bodily pain; a little languishing for a time; not quite so much money as you would like; a child afflicted; a husband, perhaps, more a trial than a comfort! Do you mean to compare these afflictions with the sufferings and sorrows of the God-Man? Viewing then, the matter in this light, can you now say that your afflictions are heavy?

Well may the apostle say "our light affliction!" Yet Paul's afflictions were not light. Read the catalogue (2 Cor. 6 and 11)– the perils he endured by land and sea; the times he was shipwrecked, scourged, stoned, cast into prison, besides all his spiritual griefs and sorrows! Yet he could say, looking to them all, "our light affliction!"

But were it ever so heavy, he stills says it is "but for a MOMENT." What is time compared to eternity? A drop compared to the ocean; a grain of dust compared to the world in which we dwell. These are insufficient comparisons. Time and eternity never can be compared together. Suppose that your afflictions were to last through life, and suppose that your life were prolonged to the utmost limit of human existence; no, more– that all the afflictions that could be endured in body and soul were rained upon your head– every disease that could rack your body, every temptation that could distress your mind, and every agony ever endured by a saint of God– a matter which is not to say absolutely impossible, but at least exceedingly improbable. But say that all the afflictions of Job were yours– of Jeremiah, Jonah, David, Paul, the ancient martyrs, and those who yielded up their lives at the stake at Smithfield, or in the fires of the Inquisition– say that all these met upon your head.

When death closed the scene and your happy soul was translated from the body into the realms of eternal bliss, what would that past scene be in your estimation as you looked down from the battlements of heaven upon the earth beneath which had been the scene of all those sorrows and afflictions? Only a moment!

But it is not likely that you would have all these afflictions heaped upon your single head. The Lord will never lay upon any one of his children more than they can bear. "He knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust." He is very tender, very compassionate, will never break a bruised reed, nor quench a smoking flax. It is but for a moment usually; that is, not merely as compared with eternity, but even with the duration of present life, that the Lord lays affliction on his children. You may have a severe illness, but health, or a measure of it, again returns; a loss in providence, but it is in some way made up to you; a family bereavement, but time mitigates your grief, or a good hope of the departed relieves the acuteness of the sorrow; a very painful trial from a tender quarter, but some gracious support is communicated with it. Thus, though affliction, and sharp affliction too, comes, yet it is not all suffering either as regards duration or intensity.

There is such a thing, when the Lord blesses it, as "glorying in tribulation," as "receiving the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit," and blessedly proving "as the sufferings of Christ abound, so consolation also abounds by Christ." Under the heaviest afflictions, the Lord usually grants the greatest support, and in the deepest sorrows gives the sweetest songs. Or, if not so, there is still a promise given, or a smile, or a word of comfort, or a look of love, or a beam of his favor that comes glancing across the dark clouds and lights it up with heavenly glory.

Though the path to heaven is a path of tribulation, it is not all suffering, nor is it always extended over a man's life, so that he has no respite or reprieve. There are intervals when the Lord suspends his afflicting hand, cheers the soul onward with his gracious smile, and giving us to see what the end of all his dealings is– the good of the soul, his own glory, and heaven at the end– enables us with Moses to choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Thus viewed, well may we say with the apostle, "our light affliction;" and when we cast our eyes beyond the narrow precincts of time into the opening realms of eternity, we can fully agree with him in declaring that all the afflictions we can endure in this present state are "but for a moment."

Now I hope, with God's blessing, I have cleared up the enigma, if ever it was an enigma to your mind– thrown, it may be, a little light on what might have puzzled you, when, filled with rebellion or self-pity, you were looking at your troubles and sorrows with the eyes of unbelief.

II. But I pass on, as proposed, in the second place, to show what this light affliction PRODUCES– what, in the hands of the Holy Spirit, is its blessed fruit andeffect. For let this truth be ever deeply impressed upon our mind, that there is not in affliction any power or tendency in itself to sanctify or save. It is at best but an instrument in the hands of the Lord, and can no more work by itself than any mechanical instrument can execute any work without the hand of the craftsman. But viewed as such by the apostle, it is declared to work for us "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." And if that be the case, well may it be called "light!"– well may it be declared to be "but for a moment!"

But how does it work for us this far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory? Is there any MERIT in affliction and suffering? I have no doubt many think so. When I was a minister in the Church of England, I was usually very assiduous in visiting my parishioners, and especially the sick and afflicted among them, having for nearly seven years two parishes under my care. Being a 'fellow' of Oxford College, I was not required to reside in either parish, nor did I do so for the first year, except for the long vacation; but as eternal things pressed with greater weight and power on my mind, I turned my back upon the University, and though much to my temporal disadvantage, went to reside in one of my parishes. The good of the people and the profit of my own soul were, I believe, my only two motives for this step. But when I went to reside in this country village, having a good deal of zeal and earnestness and a desire for the people's good, I was very assiduous in visiting them, and usually spent a portion of every day in going from house to house among the poor to converse with them as far as I could upon the weighty matters of eternity.

And how often have my ears been pained with a speech like this (because I visited all who were sick, whether they professed religion or not)– "I hope I shall have all my sufferings in this life;" clearly meaning, if not expressed in so many words, that their hope was their sufferings in this life would be accepted as an atonement for their sins; that God was now punishing them for their offences and that thereby he gave them, as it were, some pledge that by afflicting them here, he would not afflict them hereafter. I name what I thus used to hear, not as if those who used such words were more ignorant or more benighted than others, but as a specimen of the view generally taken about afflictions; for such is the innate self-righteousness of man's heart, and so deep his ignorance of the ways of the Lord, that his bodily pains, and the very sickness that is to terminate in death, become invested with a certain MERIT in his eye.

But do you think there can be any MERIT in affliction? in pain of body, distress of mind, loss of children, poverty and need, widowhood and old age, or in any amount whatever of bodily or mental suffering? Is that to be the price at which heaven is to be bought and glory won? Is there any fair exchange between the two? Will God, do you think, barter heaven, an immortality of bliss and glory– for a toothache, a bad cough, an aching back, or a broken limb; for poverty, however distressing; of family afflictions, however grievous? Perish the thought! It is one which a spiritual mind can never entertain for a single moment, but at once rejects. No greater dishonor could be cast upon the blood and obedience of an incarnate God than to invest human affliction with any degree of merit, or put any amount of natural suffering upon a level with the sorrows and agonies of the Son of God. If, then, it works for us "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," it cannot do so, on the footing of merit, or by the possession of any intrinsic worth or value.

How, then, can it work, if it does not work meritoriously? But is all work confined to merit? May it not work effectually, if all merit is discarded; work instrumentally, if it possesses no innate power or tendency? Yes; surely there is no merit in the spade that turns up the soil, or in the sickle that reaps the corn. The merit is in the hand of him that wields them. Their efficacy lies in his strength and skill, not in their own.

In this way, then, affliction works. It is an instrument in God's hand to cut down all our schemes of happiness and salvation; that the counsel of his heart and the work of his hands may stand forever and ever. We cannot have both worldly happiness and spiritual bliss– we cannot have the heart given up to everything carnal, sensual, selfish, and ungodly, and at the same time filled up with everything sacred, holy, and divine. Here we see how affliction works for us an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. By preparing our heart for it; by its being sanctified, through the grace of God, to produce in us that state of soul to which heavenly realities are so blessedly suited.

You have lately had, say, a great deal of bodily affliction, or have passed through many and severe family trials, or are at this present moment steeped up to the neck in poverty. Now, if you are a partaker of grace and are able to weigh in the 'balance of the sanctuary' the Lord's dealings with you, look at the effect of those trials and afflictions upon your soul, and what spiritual profit you have reaped from them. Have they brought you in any measure nearer to the Lord? Have they been in any measure sanctified to your soul's good? Can you find in them any of those fruits that the Scripture speaks of, such as this– "And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also– knowing that tribulation works patience, and patience experience, and experience hope; and hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given unto us."

Can you say– "This is my comfort in my affliction, for your word has quickened me;" or, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn your statutes?" Have your afflictions wrought in you rebellion, peevishness, fretfulness, self-pity, unbelief, and despair– or have they wrought prayer, supplication, confession, desires for the manifestation of Christ's love to your soul? Have they broken your spirit, laid you in the dust, weaned you from the world, made sin hateful and Christ precious, brought heaven before your eyes, and put earth under your feet?

But when we speak of afflictions being sanctified, and especially of 'working instrumentally an eternal weight of glory', it is not so much temporal as SPIRITUAL afflictions, that the Lord makes use of for that purpose. There is a certain preparation necessary for the manifestation of that grace to the soul which is the beginning and the pledge of eternal glory. For instance, 'guilt of conscience' prepares the soul for the blood of sprinkling. The arrows of the Almighty, shot into the heart from his unerring bow, prepare it for the balm of Gilead; a taste of hell for a taste of heaven; the thunders of the law for the consolations of the gospel; views of self for views of Christ. Apprehensions of the wrath to come hunt the soul out of every false refuge, convince it of its need of an imputed righteousness, and preserve it from resting in a name to live. It is thus that the deepest trials usually issue in the greatest deliverances, the sorest distress in the sweetest consolation, and the pangs of hell in the joys of heaven.

Our heart, too, is so full of the world that there is in it no room for Christ until he himself drives out the intruders, as he scourged the buyers and sellers out of the temple. Affliction in his hands, and especially spiritual affliction, convinces us of the sin and folly of loving the world, embitters it to us, and detaches our heart from it by loosening those strings that bind it so fast to time and sense! What power also sin exercises in our carnal mind, and what a need there is for chastisements to teach us the folly of our ways, and to convince us that none but Christ can save us from the wrath to come! Thus, in the mysterious wisdom of God, making all things to work together for good to those who love him, affliction itself is made to work an exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

But I must not pass by this beautiful expression. I must, with God's blessing, open a little of the force and beauty of this remarkable language.

1. "The WEIGHT of glory." The Hebrew word "glory" literally signifies "weight;" and the apostle seems to have some allusion to that circumstance by connecting, as he does, the two words together. There is indeed a natural connection between what is weighty and what is solid and substantial. He would thus represent future glory as something solid, lasting, and durable, and therefore utterly distinct from the light, vain trifles of time, and even the passing afflictions of the day or hour. But he seems chiefly to be alluding to the exceeding greatness of that glory which is to be revealed as compared with our present faculties of body and mind and all our present conceptions. It is as though he would say– "In our present imperfect state, with our limited faculties of mind, and our weak, frail body, we could not bear the weight of that immortal glory which is prepared for the saints in the realms of bliss." "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him."

Heaven, with its opening bliss, would crush our present body and soul at once into the dust. "No man," said God to Moses, "can see me and live." When John in Patmos had a view of the glory of his risen Lord, though he had lain in his bosom at the last supper, yet he fell at his feet as dead. Therefore, we must have our soul purified from all stain of sin and expanded to the utmost of its immortal powers, and our body glorified and conformed to the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, that soul and body may alike be able to bear the weight of eternal glory with which they are to be clothed. As the apostle speaks, "Our dying bodies make us groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and have no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by everlasting life." 2 Cor. 5:4

2. But there is something in the word "GLORY" that I must not pass by. The Lord, in that touching chapter John 17 thus prays, or rather thus expresses his heavenly will– "Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me." This is the "weight of glory" that the apostle speaks of– not merely freedom from sin and sorrow– not merely seeing Christ as he is, but beholding and enjoying that unutterable glory which the Father gave him, which is all the glory of Godhead as revealed in and shining through his human nature. The fullness and perfection of this glory is reserved for the saints of God to enjoy when they shall see him as he is and know even also as they are known. We see a 'gleam' of it when Christ is revealed to the soul; when the heavens are opened to faith; when his beauty and blessedness are manifested to our heart by the power of God. But the "exceeding and eternal weight of glory" can never be fully comprehended in the present life.

3. How striking, too, are the words, "a far more exceeding"– and if I may be allowed to refer to the original, I may say that even they but feebly and imperfectly express the full and majestic meaning of the inspired apostle. It is literally, "by excess to excess," as if simple language were deficient, and the word must be repeated to give any idea of the exceeding vastness and immensity of that glory– that is beyond all hyperbole. But taking the words as they stand– and they are very beautifully translated– well may we say that this weight of glory as far exceeds all earthly cares and sorrows as eternity exceeds time, as Christ surpasses man, as heaven excels earth!

Now it is affliction, as sanctified by the Holy Spirit, which instrumentally works this "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;" because through affliction grace is given, for GRACE is 'glory in the bud', as GLORY is 'grace in the flower'. I believe I may say that I have never had any blessing which has not, more or less, come through affliction. The work began in affliction, is being carried on in affliction, and will doubtless be finished in affliction. In saying so, I speak the language of all God's suffering saints. In fact, without affliction, we are not fit for a blessing; there is no room in our heart for it. Affliction comes with stretched out hand and empties the soul of all earthly happiness, all perishing joys, and all carnal delights; and by sweeping out of it all these anti-Christs; for anti-Christs they are– prepares it for Christ. He comes riding upon the 'storms of affliction'; he appears amid the 'dark night of sorrow'; he beams in upon the heart when the heavens are hung in black and the soul is dressed in mourning. Then his visits are sweet, highly prized, dearly beloved; and most for this reason– because they come at a moment when they are made suitable by previous distress. It is in this way, and not by any meritorious efficacy that there is in suffering, that "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Contrast the terms– see how the apostle puts them in a blessed antithesis– "light affliction," "weight of glory." Affliction "for a moment," glory "eternal." And thus he would cheer our desponding spirits, and would bid us look up and bear the cross, drink the cup, and endure the suffering, by setting before our eyes this blessed truth– that all these sufferings and sorrows are but for a moment, will cease with time, and issue in a glory without measure and without end!

III. This leads me to our third and last point– "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."

The apostle speaks here of two separate things which sanctified affliction produces– the one thing is the taking of our eyes from off the things which are seen, which are temporal; and the other the fixing of our eyes upon the things which are not seen, which are eternal.

1. Our natural disposition is ever to be looking at "the things which are seen;" nor can we raise our eyes from them except grace enables us. Day by day we are ever looking to the things presented to our natural eyes, to the objects by which we are surrounded, and with which in our time-state we have to do. Our daily business or employment, the station of life we occupy, our families and friends, the circle of hourly recurring duties– all are saying, as with so many uplifted voices– "Look to me! think of me! I want you and must have you! Whatever you neglect you must not neglect me! Give me all your heart!"

And we are prone, too prone, to hear their voice. As Abraham incautiously and unwisely listened to Sarah when she gave him that carnal advice to take Hagar for his wife, thereby bringing bondage and confusion into his house; so are we ever listening to the voice of the flesh, bidding us fix our eyes on the things which are seen. The things which are seen include everything upon which the natural eye of man can rest; the natural ear of man hear; the natural heart of man conceive; or the tongue of man utter– in a word, the expression embraces all the things by which we are daily surrounded, and in the employment or enjoyment of which our natural life consists.

Now in proportion as we look at the things which are seen– the occupations, the amusements, the cares, the anxieties, or even the daily duties of this passing scene– the more do they engross our thoughts, occupy our hearts, entangle our affections, and drag us from heaven to earth. It is not the being surrounded by them, or the being occupied in them as our lawful calling, that is to be condemned, but the being so much taken up by them as to exclude the things of God and steal away our heart. So that it is to be feared that some who we dare not say are not the children of God, may pass pretty well the whole day without a spiritual thought– yes, shame be to them, without a spiritual cry or sigh after God. I must repeat the expression– shame be to them, so drowned and swallowed up are they in the poor perishing things of time and sense, as not to have room for a spiritual desire after the Lord Jesus.

Now the Lord will not allow this. It may be that for a time he permits the soul to drag on in this poor, cold, dying life; but he will not always allow it to live at such a distance from him, and be so buried alive in this tomb of death and corruption. He has a 'rod in Zion' that he in due time brings forth; he has an 'affliction in his treasure-house' that he commissions as a messenger; and as he said of old, "Sword, go through the land," so he says– "Affliction, go to that house! Illness, seize that man! Family trial, fall upon that woman! They are forgetting me. Their hearts are in the world. Their business and their families are engrossing all their thoughts. Go into that house. Arouse and awake those sleepy ones out of their slumber!"

At his command the commissioned messenger comes; the rod descends upon the back; the stripes fall hard and fast, and the trials and sorrows, like Job's messengers, rush in, each worse than the previous. Now the man begins to awake. "What," he says, "have I been doing and where have I been all this time? My shop, my farm, my business, my family, my occupation have been engrossing all my thoughts. I have not been living to the Lord. He has had little or no place in my affections– Lord, forgive me this wrong. Lord, heal these base backslidings, and deliver my soul from the darkness and bondage which they have brought upon me."

He prays and begs of the Lord to forgive him for having been so earthly and sensual, so carnally minded, for neglecting his best, his only Friend; and to make him spiritually-minded, for he feels that this alone is "life and peace." If the Lord hears his prayer, this is the fruit– he begins to look away from the things which are seen, which are temporal, and to look at those things which are not seen, which are eternal; and as sanctified affliction purifies his eyes, and makes the scales drop from them, eternal things come with solemn weight and power into his conscience, and present themselves to his view as such vast realities that everything else falls into the shade before them.

If blessed with faith and hope, he looks up and what does he see? Jesus at the right hand of the Father; the glorified spirits in heaven; the exceeding and eternal weight of glory. And he sees that compared with these eternal realities, the things of time are not worth a serious thought; at any rate, that they are not worth a consuming affection. As, then, sanctified affliction is made in the hands of the Spirit a means of opening his eyes to see the power and blessedness of eternal things, the affections of his heart flow heavenward; Jesus makes himself precious; the "weight of glory" is seen in the dim distance; and under affliction's sharp discipline, he begins to press forward towards heaven and glory! Thus he looks away from "the things which are seen," which are merely temporal, all passing away, and he looks at "the things which are not seen," which are eternal. These will never come to a close, but stretch into ages of ever revolving ages, until, lost in the thought, he says– " May the Lord forgive me that ever my mind should have been drawn away from heaven to earth! May the Lord pardon my sin that I ever should have been so drowned in these poor, perishing things of sense and time, and have forgotten those blessed realities that once were the whole joy of my soul!"

Now he begins to see the effect of affliction– the sanctifying effect it produces; and he blesses God that ever he was kind enough to lay his rod upon him, subscribing with heart and soul to the testimony of David– "Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now I have kept your word."

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The Ordo Salutis (Order of Salvation) By Louis Berkhof (1873 - 1957)

The Germans speak of “Heilsaneignung,” the Dutch, of “Heilsweg” and “Orde des Heils,” and the English, of the “Way of Salvation.” The ordo salutis describes the process by which the work of salvation, wrought in Christ, is subjectively realized in the hearts and lives of sinners. It aims at describing in their logical order, and also in their interrelations, the various movements of the Holy Spirit in the application of the work of redemption. The emphasis is not on what man does in appropriating the grace of God, but on what God does in applying it. It is but natural that Pelagians should object to this view.

The desire to simplify the ordo salutis often led to unwarranted limitations. Weizsaecker would include in it only the operations of the Holy Spirit wrought in the heart of man, and holds that neither calling nor justification can properly be included under this category.[Cf. McPherson, Chr. Dogm., p. 368.] Kaftan, the most prominent Ritschlian dogmatician, is of the opinion that the traditional ordo salutis does not constitute an inner unity and therefore ought to be dissolved. He treats of calling under the Word as a means of grace; of regeneration, justification, and the mystical union, under the redemptive work of Christ; and relegates conversion and sanctification to the domain of Christian ethics. The result is that only faith is left, and this constitutes the ordo salutis.[Dogm., p. 651.] According to him the ordo salutis should include only what is required on the part of man unto salvation, and this is faith, faith only, — a purely anthropological point of view, which probably finds its explanation in the tremendous emphasis of Lutheran theology on active faith.

When we speak of an ordo salutis, we do not forget that the work of applying the grace of God to the individual sinner is a unitary process, but simply stress the fact that various movements can be distinguished in the process, that the work of the application of redemption proceeds in a definite and reasonable order, and that God does not impart the fulness of His salvation to the sinner in a single act. Had He done this, the work of redemption would not have come to the consciousness of God’s children in all its aspects and in all its divine fulness. Neither do we lose sight of the fact that we often use the terms employed to describe the various movements in a more limited sense than the Bible does.

The question may be raised, whether the Bible ever indicates a definite ordo salutis. The answer to that question is that, while it does not explicitly furnish us with a complete order of salvation, it offers us a sufficient basis for such an order. The nearest approach found in Scripture to anything like an ordo salutis, is the statement of Paul in Rom. 8:29,30. Some of the Lutheran theologians based their enumeration of the various movements in the application of redemption rather artificially on Acts 26:17,18. But while the Bible does not give us a clear-cut ordo salutis, it does do two things which enable us to construe such an order. (1) It furnishes us with a very full and rich enumeration of the operations of the Holy Spirit in applying the work of Christ to individual sinners, and of the blessings of salvation imparted to them. In doing this, it does not always use the very terms employed in Dogmatics, but frequently resorts to the use of other names and to figures of speech. Moreover, it often employs terms which have now acquired a very definite technical meaning in Dogmatics, in a far wider sense. Such words as regeneration, calling, conversion, and renewalrepeatedly serve to designate the whole change that is brought about in the inner life of man. (2) It indicates in many passages and in various ways the relation in which the different movements in the work of redemption stand to each other. It teaches that we are justified by faith and not by works, Rom. 3:30; 5:1; Gal. 2:16-20; that, being justified, we have peace with God and access to Him, Rom. 5:1,2; that we are set free from sin to become servants of righteousness, and to reap the fruit of sanctification, Rom. 6:18,22; that when we are adopted as children, we receive the Spirit who gives us assurance, and also become co-heirs with Christ, Rom. 8:15-17; Gal. 4:4,5,6; that faith comes by the hearing of the word of God, Rom. 10:17; that death unto the law results in life unto God, Gal. 2:19,20; that when we believe, we are sealed with the Spirit of God, Eph. 1:13,14; that it is necessary to walk worthily of the calling with which we are called, Eph. 4:1,2; that having obtained the righteousness of God by faith, we share the sufferings of Christ, and also the power of His resurrection, Phil. 3:9,10; and that we are begotten again through the Word of God, I Pet. 1:23. These and similar passages indicate the relation of the various movements of the redemptive work to one another, and thus afford a basis for the construction of an ordo salutis.

In view of the fact that the Bible does not specify the exact order that applies in the application of the work of redemption, there is naturally considerable room for a difference of opinion. And as a matter of fact the Churches are not all agreed as to the ordo salutis. The doctrine of the order of salvation is a fruit of the Reformation. Hardly any semblance of it is found in the works of the Scholastics. In pre-Reformation theology scant justice is done to soteriology in general. It does not constitute a separate locus, and its constituent parts are discussed under other rubrics, more or less as disjecta membra. Even the greatest of the Schoolmen, such as Peter the Lombard and Thomas Aquinas, pass on at once from the discussion of the incarnation to that of the Church and the sacraments. What may be called their soteriology consists of only two chapters, de Fide et de Poenitentia. The bona opera also receive considerable attention. Since Protestantism took its start from the criticism and displacement of the Roman Catholic conception of faith, repentance, and good works, it was but natural that the interest of the Reformers should center on the origin and development of the new life in Christ. Calvin was the first to group the various parts of the order of salvation in a systematic way, but even his representation, says Kuyper, is rather subjective, since it formally stresses the human activity rather than the divine.[Dict. Dogm., De Salute, pp. 17 f.] Later Reformed theologians corrected this defect. The following representations of the order of salvation reflect the fundamental conceptions of the way of salvation that characterize the various Churches since the Reformation.

1. THE REFORMED VIEW. Proceeding on the assumption that man’s spiritual condition depends on his state, that is, on his relation to the law; and that it is only on the basis of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ that the sinner can be delivered from the corrupting and destructive influence of sin, — Reformed Soteriology takes its starting point in the union established in the pactum salutis between Christ and those whom the Father has given Him, in virtue of which there is an eternal imputation of the righteousness of Christ to those who are His. In view of this precedence of the legal over the moral some theologians, such as Maccovius, Comrie, A. Kuyper Sr., and A. Kuyper Jr., begin the ordo salutis with justification rather than regeneration. In doing this they apply the name “justification” also to the ideal imputation of the righteousness of Christ to the elect in the eternal counsel of God. Dr. Kuyper further says that the Reformed differ from the Lutherans in that the former teach justification per justitiam Christi, while the latter represent the justification per fidem as completing the work of Christ.[Dict. Dogm., De Salute, p. 69.] The great majority of Reformed theologians, however, while presupposing the imputation of the righteousness of Christ in the pactum salutis, discuss only justification by faith in the order of salvation, and naturally take up its discussion in connection with or immediately after that of faith. They begin the ordo salutis with regeneration or with calling, and thus emphasize the fact that the application of the redemptive work of Christ is in its incipiency a work of God. This is followed by a discussion of conversion, in which the work of regeneration penetrates to the conscious life of the sinner, and he turns from self, the world, and Satan, to God. Conversion includes repentance and faith, but because of its great importance the latter is generally treated separately. The discussion of faith naturally leads to that of justification, inasmuch as this is mediated to us by faith. And because justification places man in a new relation to God, which carries with it the gift of the Spirit of adoption, and which obliges man to a new obedience and also enables him to do the will of God from the heart, the work of sanctification next comes into consideration. Finally, the order of salvation is concluded with the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints and their final glorification.

Bavinck distinguishes three groups in the blessings of salvation. He starts out by saying that sin is guilt, pollution, and misery, for it involves a breaking of the covenant of works, a loss of the image of God, and a subjection to the power of corruption. Christ delivered us from these three by His suffering, His meeting the demands of the law, and His victory over death. Consequently, the blessings of Christ consist in the following: (a) He restores the right relation of man to God and to all creatures by justification, including the forgiveness of sins, the adoption of children, peace with God, and glorious liberty. (b) He renews man in the image of God by regeneration, internal calling, conversion, renewal, and sanctification. (c) He preserves man for his eternal inheritance, delivers him from suffering and death, and puts him in possession of eternal salvation by preservation, perseverance, and glorification. The first group of blessings is granted unto us by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, is accepted by faith, and sets our conscience free. The second is imparted to us by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, renews us, and redeems us from the power of sin. And the third flows to us by the preserving, guiding, and sealing work of the Holy Spirit as the earnest of our complete redemption, and delivers us, body and soul, from the dominion of misery and death. The first group anoints us as prophets, the second, as priests, and the third, as kings. In connection with the first we look back to the completed work of Christ on the cross, where our sins were atoned; in connection with the second we look up to the living Lord in heaven, who as High Priest is seated at the right hand of the Father; and in connection with the third we look forward to the future coming of Jesus Christ, in which He will subject all enemies and will surrender the kingdom to the Father.

There are some things that should be borne in mind in connection with the ordo salutis, as it appears in Reformed theology.

a. Some of the terms are not always used in the same sense. The term justification is generally limited to what is called justification by faith, but is sometimes made to cover an objective justification of the elect in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ to them in the pactum salutis. Again, the word regeneration, which now generally designates that act of God by which He imparts the principle of the new life to man, is also used to designate the new birth or the first manifestation of the new life, and in the theology of the seventeenth century frequently occurs as synonymous with conversion or even sanctification. Some speak of it as passive conversion in distinction from conversion proper, which is then called active conversion.

b. Several other distinctions also deserve attention. We should carefully distinguish between the judicial and the recreative acts of God, the former (as justification) altering the state, and the latter (as regeneration, conversion), the condition of the sinner; — between the work of the Holy Spirit in the subconscious (regeneration), and that in the conscious life (conversion); — between that which pertains to the putting away of the old man (repentance, crucifying of the old man), and that which constitutes the putting on of the new man (regeneration and in part sanctification); — and between the beginning of the application of the work of redemption (in regeneration and conversion proper), and the continuation of it (in daily conversion and sanctification).

c. In connection with the various movements in the work of application we should bear in mind that the judicial acts of God constitute the basis for His recreative acts, so that justification, though not temporally, is yet logically prior to all the rest; — that the work of God’s grace in the subconscious, precedes that in the conscious life, so that regeneration precedes conversion; — and that the judicial acts of God (justification, including the forgiveness of sins and the adoption of children) always address themselves to the consciousness, while of the recreative acts one, namely, regeneration, takes place in the subconscious life.

2. THE LUTHERAN VIEW. The Lutherans, while not denying the doctrines of election, the mystical union, and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, do not take their starting point in any one of these. They fully recognize the fact that the subjective realization of the work of redemption in the hearts and lives of sinners is a work of divine grace, but at the same time give a representation of the ordo salutis which places the main emphasis on what is done a parte hominis (on the part of man) rather than on what is done a parte Dei (on the part of God). They see in faith first of all a gift of God, but at the same time make faith, regarded more particularly as an active principle in man and as an activity of man, the all-determining factor in their order of salvation. Says Pieper: “So kommt denn hinsichtlich der Heilsaneignung alles darauf an, dass im Menschen der Glaube an das Evangelium entstehe.”[Christl. Dogm. II, p. 477. Cf. also Valentine, Chr. Theol. II, pp. 258 ff.] Attention was already called to the fact that Kaftan regards faith as the whole of the ordo salutis. This emphasis on faith as an active principle is undoubtedly due to the fact that in the Lutheran Reformation the doctrine of justification by faith — often called the material principle of the Reformation — was very much in the foreground. According to Pieper the Lutheran takes his starting point in the fact that in Christ God is reconciled to the world of humanity. God announces this fact to man in the gospel and offers to put man subjectively in possession of that forgiveness of sins or justification which was objectively wrought in Christ. This calling is always accompanied with a certain measure of illumination and of quickening, so that man receives the power to not-resist the saving operation of the Holy Spirit. It frequently results in repentance, and this may issue in regeneration, by which the Holy Spirit endows the sinner with saving grace. Now all these, namely, calling, illumination, repentance, and regeneration, are really only preparatory, and are strictly speaking not yet blessings of the covenant of grace. They are experienced apart from any living relation to Christ, and merely serve to lead the sinner to Christ. “Regeneration is conditioned by the conduct of man with regard to the influence exerted upon him,” and therefore “will take place at once or gradually, as man’s resistance is greater or less.”[Schmid, Doct. Theol., p. 464.] In it man is endowed with a saving faith by which he appropriates the forgiveness or justification that is objectively given in Christ, is adopted as a child of God, is united to Christ in a mystical union, and receives the spirit of renewal and sanctification, the living principle of a life of obedience. The permanent possession of all these blessings depends on the continuance of faith, — on an active faith on the part of man. If man continues to believe, he has peace and joy, life and salvation; but if he ceases to exercise faith, all this becomes doubtful, uncertain, and amissible. There is always a possibility that the believer will lose all that he possesses.

3. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC VIEW. In Roman Catholic theology the doctrine of the Church precedes the discussion of the ordo salutis. Children are regenerated by baptism, but they who first become acquainted with the gospel in later life receive a gratia sufficiens, consisting in an illumination of the mind and a strengthening of the will. Man can resist this grace, but can also assent to it. If he assents to it, it turns into a gratia co-operans, in which man co-operates to prepare himself for justification. This preparation consists of seven parts: (a) a believing acceptance of the Word of God, (b) an insight into one’s sinful condition, (c) hope in the mercy of God, (d) the beginning of love to God, (e) an abhorrence of sin, (f) a resolve to obey the commandments of God, and (g) a desire for baptism. It is quite evident that faith does not occupy a central place here, but is simply co-ordinated with the other preparations. It is merely an intellectual assent to the doctrines of the Church (fides informis) and acquires its justifying power only through the love that is imparted in the gratia infusa (fides caritate formata). It can be called justifying faith only in the sense that it is the basis and root of all justification as the first of the preparations named above. After this preparation justification itself follows in baptism. This consists in the infusion of grace, of supernatural virtues, followed by the forgiveness of sins. The measure of this forgiveness is commensurate with the degree in which sin is actually overcome. It should be borne in mind that justification is given freely, and is not merited by the preceding preparations. The gift of justification is preserved by obeying the commandments and by doing good works. In the gratia infusa man receives the supernatural strength to do good works and thus to merit (with a merit de condigno, that is, real merit) all following grace and even everlasting life. The grace of God thus serves the purpose of enabling man once more to merit salvation. But it is not certain that man will retain the forgiveness of sins. The grace of justification may be lost, not only through unbelief, but through any mortal sin. It may be regained, however, by the sacrament of penance, consisting of contrition (or, attrition) and confession, together with absolution and works of satisfaction. Both the guilt of sin and eternal punishment are removed by absolution, but temporal penalties can be canceled only by works of satisfaction.

4. THE ARMINIAN VIEW. The Arminian order of salvation, while ostensibly ascribing the work of salvation to God, really makes it contingent on the attitude and the work of man. God opens up the possibility of salvation for man, but it is up to man to improve the opportunity. The Arminian regards the atonement of Christ “as an oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world” (Pope), that is, for the sins of every individual of the human race. He denies that the guilt of Adam’s sin is imputed to all his descendants, and that man is by nature totally depraved, and therefore unable to do any spiritual good; and believes that, while human nature is undoubtedly injured and deteriorated as the result of the fall, man is still able, by nature, to do that which is spiritually good and to turn to God. But because of the evil bias, the perverseness, and the sluggishness of sinful human nature, God imparts to it gracious assistance. He bestows sufficient grace upon all men to enable them, if they choose, to attain to the full possession of spiritual blessings, and ultimately to salvation. The gospel offer comes to all men indiscriminately and exerts a merely moral influence on them, while they have it in their power to resist it or to yield to it. If they yield to it, they will turn to Christ in repentance and faith. These movements of the soul are not (as in Calvinism) the results of regeneration, but are merely introductory to the state of grace properly so called. When their faith really terminates in Christ, this faith is, for the sake of the merits of Christ, imputed to them for righteousness. This does not mean that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them as their very own, but that, in view of what Christ did for sinners, their faith, which involves the principle of obedience, honesty of heart, and good dispositions, is accepted in lieu of a perfect obedience and is reckoned to them for righteousness. On this basis, then, they are justified, which in the Arminian scheme generally simply means that their sins are pardoned, and not that they are accepted as righteous. Arminians often put it in this form: The forgiveness of sins is based on the merits of Christ, but acceptance with God rests on man’s obedience to the law or evangelical obedience. Faith not only serves to justify, but also to regenerate sinners. It insures to man the grace of evangelical obedience and this, if allowed to function through life, issues in the grace of perseverance. However, the grace of God is always resistible and amissible.

The so-called Wesleyan or Evangelical Arminian does not entirely agree with the Arminianism of the seventeenth century. While his position shows greater affinity with Calvinism than the original Arminianism does, it is also more inconsistent. It admits that the guilt of Adam’s sin is imputed to all his descendants, but at the same time holds that all men are justified in Christ, and that therefore this guilt is at once removed, at birth. It also admits the entire moral depravity of man in the state of nature, but goes on to stress the fact that no man exists in that state of nature, since there is a universal application of the work of Christ through the Holy Spirit, by which the sinner is enabled to co-operate with the grace of God. It emphasizes the necessity of a supernatural

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From Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof

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God's Delight in the Progress of the Upright (Thomas Brooks, 1608–1680)

Job 17:8,9

“Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite. The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.”

Numbers 35:33

“So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.” 

The Epistle Dedicatory

This work was too high for me; and, as it is now done by so weak a hand, is too low for so many judicious eyes to look down to. Yet, according to your command, I have published these notes, which I humbly present to you. They were once in your ear, they are now in your eye, and may the Lord ever keep them in your hearts! Solomon bids us "buy the truth," but does not tell us what it must cost, because we must get it, though it be ever so dear. We should love it both shining and scorching. The desire of my soul is, that you may deal so with those truths which here in all humbleness is presented to you. Oh, that we may be all doers of the word, and not hearers only, lest we deceive our own souls! When I stood upon my watch to see what the Lord would say unto me, that I might speak unto you a word in season, that is, with a due concurrence and observation of all circumstances, of time, place, people, etc., He directed me to make this discovery of upright hearts' progress in the ways of God, notwithstanding all afflictions, etc., which befall them; which gives me hope that God intended to send home into your hearts some light and influence from this truth, to encourage and keep up your spirits against all the opposition which you may find in the cause of God and the kingdom, and to maintain your zeal and forwardness therein, that justice and judgment may run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

If justice does not work the salvation of sinners' souls—yet it will work to the restraining of their sin—the measure of their wickedness will be less. And yet, I desire that justice and clemency may go together. Nero's speech has great praise, who, when he was to subscribe to the death of a man condemned, would say, "I wish I did not know how to write." I hope there be a generation that will not abuse that liberty that shall be granted them according to the word—but will, in the midst of all their liberties, be faithful servants to peace and concord, according to that which Calvin writes to Farel, "I hope God will arise in you, and cause you to do his work his own way." May the Lord God guide you, and give everyone of you to act like the angels of God—cheerfully, freely, readily, sincerely, and unweariedly in your generation, that in all your ways Christ may own you, and that all the godly of the land may rise up and call you blessed; and let the blessing of him who was in the bush be upon you and yours forever; and let all the precious sons of Zion who love the God of heaven, who is the Savior of this nation, say Amen.

In all humble service for Christ,
Thomas Brooks.

God's Delight in the Progress of the Upright

"Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from your ways." Psalm 44:18.

The word that is rendered "heart," both in the Old and New Testament, does signify the understanding, mind, will, affections, conscience, the whole soul. "Our heart is not turned back." Our understandings and minds are the same as they were in a summer's day, though now we be in a winter's storm—though now we be afflicted, tossed, broken, and persecuted—yet notwithstanding, "our heart is not turned back"—our mind, will, affections, and conscience, our whole soul, is the same now as before. "Our heart is not turned backward, neither have our steps declined from your ways."

"Our heart is not turned back." This notes their progress in the ways of well-doing; for the old saying is, Not to go forward is to go backward. "Neither have our steps declined from your ways." It notes their settled course of walking in the ways of God; and, in short, the sum of all is, though we have been afflicted, tossed, broken and persecuted—yet our hearts have held on in the ways of the Lord, and we have not departed from our God. "Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from your ways."

There is but one observation that I shall speak to this day, and that is this: Upright hearts will persevere in the ways of God, and in the ways of well-doing, notwithstanding all afflictions, troubles, and discouragements they meet with. That is the sum and the scope of this verse here. The church was afflicted, tossed, broken, and persecuted; and yet this is still the theme of the song, "Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from your ways."

I judge it a point seasonable in every respect. I shall only eye the scriptures that prove it, and then open it to you. The scriptures that prove it are these: Psalm 119:23-24; Josh. 24:15; Neh. 4:13, 17 compared; Mal. 3:13-17; 2 Cor. 11:23-30. These scriptures speak out this truth, that upright hearts will persevere in the ways of God, and in the ways of well-doing, notwithstanding all the afflictions, troubles, and discouragements they meet with. For the opening of the point, I shall premise these three things—

First, I shall premise something concerning upright hearts.

Secondly, I shall premise something concerning the ways of God.

Thirdly, The reasons why upright hearts will persevere in the ways of God, in the ways of well-doing, notwithstanding all the afflictions, troubles, and discouragements they meet with.
 

1. I shall premise these four things concerning upright hearts—

1. First, An upright heart hates all SINS, even those which he cannot conquer; and he loves all divine TRUTHS, even those which he cannot practice. An upright heart, he hates all SIN. All sin strikes at God, at his holiness, as well as at an upright man's happiness. All sin strikes at God's glory, as well as at the soul's comfort; therefore the soul strikes at all sin. All sins, in the eye of an upright heart, are traitors to the crown and dignity of the Lord Jesus; therefore the soul rises in arms against all. An upright heart, he looks upon sin to be a universal evil. An upright heart, he looks upon sin as that which has thrown down the most righteous man in the world, as Noah; as that which has thrown down the best believer in the world, as Abraham; as that which has thrown down the best king in the world, as David; as that which has thrown down the best apostle in the world, as Paul. It looks upon sin as that which has thrown down the strongest, as Samson; and the wisest, as Solomon; and the meekest, as Moses; and the patientest, as Job; and so his soul rises against it. In Psalm 119:104, "I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path." The original word signifies to hate with a deadly and irreconcilable hatred; to hate so as that nothing will satisfy but the destruction of the thing hated. It is the same Hebrew word that is used to express Absalom's hatred of Amnon for defiling of sister Tamar, "My soul hates him."

An unsound heart, a rotten heart, strikes at some sins—and yet falls in with others; he cries down pride and ignorance—and yet falls in with oppression and cruelty; he cries down tyranny and injustice in others—and yet plays the tyrant and unjust one himself. There are men who are blinded by Satan, and he has them by the hand, and the Lord knows where he will lead them.

And as an upright heart hates all sins, even those he cannot conquer, so an upright soul loves all TRUTHS, even those that he cannot practice. Every word of the Lord is just and righteous in the eye of an upright soul; he loves all truth strongly, though he can practice no truth but very weakly. Every word of grace is glorious, every line of grace is very glorious. Truth is sweetness to him; where one truth is sweet, there every truth is sweet to an upright soul. In Psalm 119:127-128, says David there, "I have loved your commandments above gold; yes, above fine gold: I esteem all your precepts concerning all things to be right." That is the first thing.

2. Secondly, Upright hearts serve God, and seek God more for that internal worth and that eternal good that is in him, than for any external good they receive from him. Just so, it was with upright Job. The devil, in Job 1, would gladly charge Job that his heart was not right with God, that God had made a hedge about him, and therefore Job served him. The Lord therefore gives Satan liberty to break down that hedge, that Job's uprightness might appear, and that it might appear to all the world, that Job served God for that internal and eternal worth that was in him—namely, holiness, wisdom, and goodness. Therefore, when that hedge was down, and Job was stripped of all—yet in ver. 21, "The Lord has given," says he, "and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Oh, upright Job served God for that internal and eternal worth that is in him; and therefore, though all his outward goods were lost, his soul could bless God.

But an unsound heart, a rotten heart, serves God and seeks good merely for some external good it has from him, or expects to receive by him. That is a true saying, "Few men seek God for himself—but for some other thing." Like those in Hosea 7:14, "When they howled," says God, "upon their beds, it was for grain, and wine, and oil, and they rebelled against me." It was not for any internal or eternal worth in me, it was not for that holiness, wisdom, faithfulness, purity, and glory that is in me—but they seek me for loaves, for grain, and wine, and oil, and they rebelled against me.

3. Upright hearts are most exercised and most busied and taken up about the inward man, about the inside—observing that, reforming that, examining that, watching that. An upright heart knows that his soul is Christ's throne, his chamber of presence; and therefore, above all, the upright heart is most diligent to observe that none sit upon that throne but Christ, and that none come into that chamber of presence but Christ, that no scepter be advanced there but the scepter of Christ; he is most careful of the inside. In Psalm 86:11, "Incline my heart to fear your name;" Psalm 119:36, "Let my heart be sound in your statutes;" and so in ver. 80 and ver. 112 of the same psalm.

Now an unsound heart, a rotten heart, is most taken up about the outside,—informing that, and reforming that, and watching of that—but as for the inside, there is no eye cast to see how all stands there. The devil may bear rule; any may come into the soul and domineer and oppose the scepter of Christ. Just so, an unsound soul is taken up merely about the outside. That same exhortation of Solomon is strong upon an upright heart: Proverbs 4:23, "Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." The original has it more elegantly, "Before all, or above all keeping, keep your heart; for out of it is the goings forth of lives." This duty that Solomon presse, is a duty that an upright heart above all, endeavors to practice. Above all and before all, he guards his soul; he looks to his inward parts, how he thrives and grows, how he stands God-ward, Christ-ward, heaven-ward, and holiness-ward.

4. Upright hearts in their constant course are unwavering hearts. An upright heart in his constant course is an unwavering heart. All the ways of an upright soul are as commentaries one upon another; and look, "as face answers face," as Solomon speaks, so the ways of an upright heart do one answer another. Christ sits at the stern of the soul, and guides the soul into those ways which are most like to himself: 2 Chron. 34:2, "Josiah, he walked in all the ways of the Lord, as his father David did; he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left." In all his ways he behaved evenly.

But an unsound heart, a rotten heart, is a very wavering heart. You shall have one way wherein he walks to speak him out an angel, another to speak him a very sinful man, and a third to speak him a devil. Now he is for God, afterwards against God; now for justice and righteousness, at another time for injustice and unrighteousness. But an upright heart is an unwavering heart. Let heaven and earth meet, let trials come, temptations and afflictions come, he keeps his ground, he is an unwavering heart, So much concerning the first thing.
 

2. Secondly, concerning the WAYS of God, I shall briefly premise these five things—

1. First, The ways of God are RIGHTEOUS ways, the ways of God are BLESSED ways. Proverbs 8:20, "I lead in the way of righteousness, and in the midst of the paths of judgment;" and in the 33rd verse of that same chapter, "Hearken unto me now therefore, O you children, for blessed are those who keep your ways." The ways of God are blessed ways; they bring in temporal, spiritual, and eternal blessings upon all who walk in them. They are righteous ways; they lead to righteousness, to the love of righteousness, to the practice of righteousness, to a delight in righteousness. As for the ways of profaneness, pride, hypocrisy, formality, and apostasy, these are none of the ways of God; they are unrighteous ways, cursed ways, and they bring nothing but curses and crosses upon all who walk in them. Those who walk in these ways are nowhere secure—but are every moment liable to the thunderbolts of divine displeasure.

2. Secondly, The ways of God are SOUL-REFRESHING ways. Oh, they yield the soul abundance of refreshing and sweetness, who walks in them. In Jer. 6:16, "Ask for the old way, the good old way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest,"—"you shall find refreshing to your souls," as the original has it. If a man's soul is tired and weary, the ways of the Lord will refresh it; if it is dead and dull, the ways of the Lord will quicken it; if he is fainting, the ways of the Lord will be as a cordial to him.

3. Thirdly, The ways of the Lord are TRANSCENDENT ways, ways that transcend all other ways. What is darkness, compared to light? What are pebbles, compared to pearls? What is dross, compared to gold? No more are the choicest ways of the creature, compared to the ways of God: 4:8-9, "My ways are not as your ways, nor my thoughts as your thoughts—but as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my thoughts above your thoughts, and my ways above your ways." What is said of wisdom, Proverbs 3:15, "that she is more precious than rubies, and that all the things we can desire are not to be compared to her," the same may be affirmed of the ways of God. Oh! they are more precious than rubies, and all other ways are not to be compared to them.

4. Fourthly, The ways of God are SOUL-STRENGTHENING ways, ways that yield strength to the soul. In Proverbs 10:29, "The way of the Lord is strength to the upright." That is—the way of the Lord makes strong. The original word signifies to confirm, to make strong. Oh, the ways of the Lord confirm upright hearts, they make upright hearts strong, strong to withstand temptations, strong to conquer corruptions, strong to rejoice under afflictions, strong to perform the most heavenly duties, strong to improve the most spiritual mercies. The ways of the Lord make strong, they confirm such hearts as walk in them.

5. Fifthly and lastly, the ways of the Lord are AFFLICTED, perplexed, and persecuted ways. Mat. 7:14, "Strait is the gate," etc. The original word signifies perplexed, afflicted, persecuted; and the way is made strait by afflictions and troubles and persecutions. And so in Acts 19:9, "This way is everywhere evil spoken of;" and in Acts 24:14, "In the way that you call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers." The ways of God are afflicted, persecuted, and perplexed ways. And so much for the second thing.
 

3. The REASONS why upright hearts will persevere in the ways of God, notwithstanding all the afflictions, troubles, and discouragements which befall them, are these—

1. The first is drawn from the nature of a Christian's life, which is a RACE. As he who runs a race, if he does not persevere, notwithstanding all discouragements, until he comes to the goal—he loses the garland; and as he who faints in wrestling loses the crown, so do those who hold not out to the end; therefore upright hearts will persevere to the end, notwithstanding all the discouragements they meet with in the ways of God: 1 Cor. 9:24, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." So in Heb. 12:1, "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

2. A second ground of their persevering, notwithstanding all the afflictions and discouragements they meet with in the ways of God, and in the ways of well-doing, is drawn from the glorious promises of REWARD. For mark, as there is a comforting virtue in the promises, so there is a quickening and an encouraging virtue in all the glorious promises, as to warm the heart, so to raise and encourage the heart to run the ways of God's commandments, especially such promises as these: Rev. 2:10, "Satan shall cast some of you into prison: but fear not—but be faithful unto the death, and I will give you the crown of life." That crown is a sure crown, a matchless crown, a glorious crown, a lasting crown: "I will give you a crown of life." That is, "I who am faithfulness itself, I who am truth itself, I who am goodness itself, I who am power itself, I who have all in heaven and earth at my disposing—I myself will give you a crown of life!"

2 Tim. 4:8, "Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." The word that is rendered laid up signifies safely to lay up: it notes both a designation and a reservation. There is a crown designed and safely kept for me. And so such a promise as that, Rev. 3:5, "He who overcomes shall be arrayed in white: and I will not blot his name out of the book of life—but I will confess him before my Father, and before his angels." And in ver. 21 of the same chapter, "He who overcomes shall sit down with me in my throne, as I overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne." That is another reason from the promises of reward.

Promises of reward to the mariners—oh, how do they raise up their spirits to go through any storms, to go through many dangers! and so does the glorious promises of reward which God makes to his people; they carry them bravely through all storms.

3. A third reason is, Because of all ways the ways of God are the most HONORABLE ways; therefore upright hearts will persevere in them, notwithstanding all the afflictions and discouragements they meet with. The most renowned and honored saints who ever breathed on earth, and who are now triumphant in heaven, have walked in those ways of God. The ways of sin are base, reproachful ways—but the ways of God are honorable ways.

When a man does but fancy that the way he walks in is an honorable way, alas! how is his spirit carried on in that way against all opposition that he meets with! Oh, how much more does the testimony that God gives of his ways, and the encouragements that he gives to his people to persevere in his ways, raise up their spirits to persevere against all discouragements.

4. But fourthly, The principal reason of upright hearts persevering in the ways of well-doing against all discouragements, is—because they are carried on in the ways of well-doing, and in the ways of God, from spiritual and internal causes—from spiritual principles, from a principle of inward life and spiritual power. It is true, if upright hearts were only carried on from fleshly, carnal, and external causes—they would wheel about, and turn apostates, and be base, and what not. But upright hearts are carried on in the ways of God from inward principles, as in Jer. 32:40, "I will put my fear in their hearts, and they shall never depart from me."

"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." Ezekiel 36:25-27. Upright hearts are carried on by an inward principle of fear, faith, and love, and this carries them bravely on against all the discouragements they meet with. In Isaiah 40:31, "Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength like the eagle; they shall run and not be weary," because they run upon another's legs—namely, the Lord Christ's; "and they shall walk and not faint," because they walk in the strength of Christ. That is another reason.

5. The fifth and last reason of their persevering in the ways of God, notwithstanding all the discouragements which befall them—is drawn from the former profit and sweetness which they have found in the ways of God. Oh! upright souls have found by experience, the ways of God to be profitable ways indeed, to be the most gainful way that ever souls walked in. Upright hearts can say, "We went to prayer at such a time, and we met with Christ answering us! Oh! what a mercy was that!" And another time, "We went to the word, and we met with Jesus Christ embracing us. Oh! what a favor was that!" And another time, "We went to the communion of saints, and we met with Christ warming and inflaming our hearts; and oh, what a heaven was that!" As those in Luke 24:32, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us?" Oh! the remembrance of that former sweetness they have found carries them aloft against all discouragements!

The kiss that the king gave one, as the story speaks, was more than the golden cup he gave to the other. Oh, the spiritual kisses that the King of kings gives upright souls when he meets them in his ways, carries their souls continuously against all afflictions and oppositions that they meet with. David says, in Psalm 116:2, "Because you have inclined your ear to me, therefore will I call on you as long as I live." Why? "Because you have inclined your ear to me, I will call on you as long as I live." In summer season and in winter season, let men smile or frown, I will call upon you as long as I live. The sweet gain and profit that mariners have found in such and such ways, does exceedingly carry their spirits on in those ways, notwithstanding all discouragements; and so does the sweetness that upright souls have found in the ways of God. And thus much for the reasons of the point, and for the doctrinal part.
 

4. We come now to the PRACTICAL APPLICATION, which is the main thing I have my eye upon, at this time.

1. Is it so, that upright hearts will persevere in the ways of God and the ways of well-doing, notwithstanding all afflictions, troubles, and discouragements which may befall them? Then this, in the first place, serves to show us that the number of upright hearts are very few; for ah! how few are there, who keep close to the ways of God, and persevere in the ways of well-doing, when storms begin to rise! It is nothing for a man when he has wind and tide on his side, when there is concurrence of all secondary causes to lift a man up and carry him bravely on; it is nothing to persevere now in the ways of God and the ways of well-doing. Oh—but when a man is tossed and afflicted, broken and persecuted, now to persevere in the ways of well-doing, this is the glory of a Christian—but how few are there that persevere in these seasons! Oh! witness the treachery, witness the apostasy, witness the neutrality of men in our days, who, when storms begins, for fleshly ends, they wheel about.

2. Secondly, Is it so, that upright hearts will persevere in the ways of well-doing, notwithstanding all discouragements which befall them? I shall endeavor to apply the point more generally, to all who hear me at this time, knowing that it is a useful point for us all, especially in these times and seasons wherein God does exercise us with afflictions and discouragements, while we are in his own ways. The exhortation that I shall press upon you all is, that you will persevere in the ways of well-doing, notwithstanding all the afflictions, troubles, and discouragements which may befall you.

Now that you may, I shall endeavor to do these two things—

First, To lay down some motives to encourage you.

Secondly, To premise some directions to further help you.

1. For the first, by way of motives to encourage you to persevere against all discouragements that possibly may befall you, consider these few things—

1. First of all, Consider this, that all the afflictions and troubles that you meet with shall never hurt nor harm you—but be very advantageous to you. All the arrows that wicked men shoot at your heads shall stick fast in their own hearts: 1 Peter 3:13, "And who shall harm you, if you are followers of that which is good?" Interrogations are strong affirmations. It is a strong affirmation, "none shall harm you!" Devils nor men, let them roar and rage, none shall harm you. For as one speaks truly, "No man is properly hurt but by himself and his own fault." All the afflictions and troubles which you shall meet with in the ways of well-doing, they shall be advantageous to you; they shall be a means by which God will convey more of his grace and mercy, more of himself and his glory into your souls: Hosea 2:14, "I will allure her into the wilderness, and then I will speak friendly to her"—or as the Hebrew has it, I will earnestly speak to her heart. God will make all afflictions, even a wilderness, to be an inlet to more of his own self. All the discouragements that you meet with in the ways of well-doing shall but rub off your dross, and empty out that filth that is in you, and so make more room for more of himself and of his glory to be communicated to you.

Heb. 12:10, "But he afflicts us for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness." They were before partakers of his holiness. Oh—but God will make afflictions conduit-pipes, through which he will convey more of himself and of his holiness to his children's souls. That is the first thing. All the afflictions which befall you shall not harm you—but be very advantageous to you. Who would not then persevere in the ways of well-doing, notwithstanding any trouble or affliction that may befall them?

2. Secondly, beloved, let all gracious and upright hearts consider this, that Jesus Christ has held on in a way of mercy and sweetness towards you, notwithstanding all the discouragements and all the hindrances which have been in his way; and will not you persevere in ways of duty to Christ, who has held on, notwithstanding all discouragements, in a way of mercy towards you? Oh consider, consider what difficulties the Lord Jesus Christ has gone over to come to your souls. In Cant. 2:8, it is said there, "It is my beloved that comes leaping over the mountains and skipping over the hills." Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ has come over mountains of wrath, and mountains of sin, and mountains of sorrow—and all that he might come to your souls. In Isaiah 63:3, "I have trod the wine-press alone." He trod the wine-press of the wrath of his Father alone. And so in Isaiah 50:5-6, "The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned my back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheek to those who pluck off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting." Oh, the Lord, in a way of mercy towards you, has come over all difficulties. Jesus Christ never pleaded, "Oh this mountain of wrath, of sin, and sorrow is too high for me to go over: and these valleys of darkness are too long and too terrible for me to walk through." Oh no! but the Lord came skipping over all mountains, and all for the good of your souls.

And will not you, upright hearts, persevere in ways of duty to him who has thus acted in ways of mercy to you? And as he has, so he does still persevere in ways of mercy to you, notwithstanding all your provocations and unworthy walking of former mercies. Yet still he holds on in ways of mercy and kindness to you. Witness all those mercies which now you enjoy, the clothes that you wear, and the bread that you eat, and the house that you lodge in, and the bed that you lie on—when thousands are laying down in the everlasting sorrow of hell. Oh, this should bespeak you to persevere in his ways, notwithstanding any difficulties that you may meet with.

3. But then, in the third place, Let all upright hearts seriously consider this, that wicked and ungodly men persevere in ways of impiety, notwithstanding all the discouragements that they meet with from God; and will not you who are upright, persevere in ways of piety, notwithstanding all the discouragements and afflictions that you may meet with from men? Wicked and ungodly men, they persevere in ways of wickedness, notwithstanding all the afflictions, and troubles, and discouragements which God exercises them with. God lashes their consciences, and passes the sentence of death upon all their comforts. Afflictions comes upon them as Job's messengers, one upon the neck of another; and yet they remain proud still, and hypocritical still, and treacherous still, and apostates still, and profane still. O upright hearts, will not you persevere in the ways of piety, notwithstanding the discouragements that you meet with from men? Shall wicked men persevere in the ways of wickedness, notwithstanding all discouragements, though God chides them and set his angel in the way to draw a sword upon them, and crushes their bones against the wall, as he dealt with Balsam, Num. 22:25; shall wicked men, Balaam-like, ride on though the angel of the Lord draw his sword; and will not you, when men draw their swords, persevere in the ways of well-doing?

4. Fourthly, Consider solemnly of that agreement that you made with Jesus Christ, when you first took Jesus Christ upon the day of your marriage with Christ. Oh, there is enough in that to engage you to persevere against all the discouragements you shall meet with! Oh remember, upright souls, in the day of your marriage with Jesus Christ, you covenanted with the Lord Jesus Christ to keep close to him, to persevere in his ways. Then you did say in effect to Christ what Ruth said to Naomi, Ruth 1:14-16, "Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your God shall be my God; and nothing but death shall part between you and me." When you first gave yourself to Jesus Christ, in that day your souls were really married to Christ, then you covenanted with the Lord Jesus Christ, and in effect said thus, "O blessed Lord! I will follow you wherever you go; where you go I will go; and where you lodge I will lodge; and your God shall be my God; and nothing shall part between you and my soul, between your ways and my heart;" therefore let that bespeak you to persevere in ways of well-doing, notwithstanding all afflictions and discouragements you meet with.

5. And then again, in the next place, Let upright hearts consider this, that God knows how to deliver from troubles by troubles; he knows how to deliver from afflictions by afflictions; and God will by lesser afflictions which befall his people, deliver them from greater afflictions; and by those troubles which befall them, he will deliver them from greater troubles. I remember a saying of Anaxagoras, who seeing great possessions which he had lost, speaks thus, "Had not those things perished," says he, "I could not have been safe." God will so order all the afflictions and troubles which befall you in the ways of the Lord, that your soul shall say, "Oh, had I not met with this affliction—I would have been undone; had I not been undone—I would have been undone; had not these troubles and sorrows and discouragements befallen me—it had been worse with me. God will deliver his people, mark it, from spiritual afflictions and spiritual judgments, by the temporal afflictions and troubles which befall them. By those afflictions that you meet with in the ways of well-doing, God will deliver you from that security, pride, formality, dead-heartedness, lukewarmness, and censoriousness that otherwise might fall upon you.

I remember a story of a godly man, that as he was going to board the ship for France, he broke his leg; and it pleased providence so to order it, that the ship that he would have gone in at that very time was sunk, and not a man saved; so by breaking a bone his life was saved. Thus is the dealing of the Lord with his people; sometimes he exercises them with afflictions—it may be he breaks their bones; ay—but it is in order to the saving of their lives.

6. And then again consider, that all the afflictions, troubles, and discouragements which befall you, shall never rob you of your treasure, of your jewels. They may rob you of some slight, light things; as the flower that is in your hat—but they cannot rob you, they cannot strip you of your choice jewels and treasures. The jewels and treasures of an upright heart—are the spiritual presence of God, union with Christ, communion with Christ, joy that is unspeakable and glorious, peace that passes understanding, spiritual comfort, the least drop of which is more worth than a world. Now all the afflictions and troubles which befalls you, can never rob you of your jewels; your treasure is safe. They may rob you of the flower in your cap—but your jewel is safe. Some slight, poor, outward comforts they may rob you of. Oh—but your jewels is safe, your treasure is still safe.

What an encouragement it is to a poor traveler to persevere his way, when he remembers that all the thieves and enemies that he meets with, which cannot rob him of his treasures, of his jewels! O upright hearts! Your jewel is safe, your treasure is safe, and all the powers of darkness can never rob you of your God, of your Christ, of your comfort, of your inward peace; therefore persevere against all discouragements and afflictions that you shall meet with.

7. Then again, in the next place, consider that your persevering in the ways of well-doing, notwithstanding all discouragements and afflictions that may befall you, is very acceptable to God; and it tends much to the glory and honor of God, for his people to persevere in the ways of well-doing against all discouragements that may befall them. The church of Pergamos persevered, and the Lord was pleased with it: Rev. 2:13, "I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives."

The Lord here was much affected and pleased with the constancy of the church, that it held on in his worship and ways, notwithstanding the discouragements and troubles that she met with. It is very honorable to God. Oh! it is an honor to the power of God, to the wisdom of God, to the goodness of God, by persevering in his ways against all oppositions; you declare to the world that there is no God like your God, and no ways like his ways; nor any encouragements like those which he gives; therefore persevere in the ways of well-doing against all discouragements.

8. But in the eighth and last place, do but consider the dangerous nature of apostasy; and if there were no other argument to move men to persevere in the ways of God, in the ways of well-doing, against all discouragements and troubles that may befall them—yet this alone may carry their hearts bravely on against all troubles and afflictions. Consider the dangerous nature of apostasy. If you would judge of the dangerous nature of apostasy aright, you may do it by these few things—

[1.] First, Consider what you fall from by apostatizing from God, from his truth, and from his ways. Oh! consider that of all falls, the falls of such apostates are the most dangerous falls. You who play the apostate, and turn from the ways of God, and from the ways of well-doing—you fall from God, who is the greatest good; you fall from his ways, which are the crown and the glory of the soul; and from his truth, the least tittle of which is more worth than heaven and earth. Alas! what are the falls of others, compared to your falls! Alexander the Third, he fell from a pope to be a gardener in Venice; and Valerian fell from a golden chair to an iron cage; and Dionysius fell from a king to be a schoolmaster; and Nebuchadnezzar fell from a mighty prince to be a beast—but what are these falls to your falls, O apostate! who fall from heaven to hell—from the greatest good to the greatest evil!

We live in an apostatizing age; men wheel and turn about as second causes work, and are not steadfast with their God. These are days wherein grapes are turned into thorns, and figs into thistles; wherein men who were persecuted by others, turn persecutors of others; and men who were smitten by others, now by their pens and tongues bitterly smite others, even their fellow-brethren. These are days wherein lambs are turned into lions, and doves are turned into serpents; and men who have acted like angels, are turned to act like devils in respect of their rage and malice against God and his children, and against those ways wherein his people do walk. They are like the taxus plant of India, which the first year bears fruit, the second year leaves, and the third year poison. Thus it is with apostates of our time. For a time they bear fruit, a little after leaves, and now at last poison, the worst of all. Oh, consider the danger of apostasy! By apostasy you fall from the greatest good, and from the present hope of mercy, and from the future hope of glory; for there is no sin that does so strip a man of the present hope of mercy, and the future hope of glory, as the sin of apostasy: witness Spira, Judas, etc.

[2.] Then again, in the second place, judge of the dangerous nature of apostasy by the judgments of God that have fallen upon apostates, as upon Julian, Judas, Spira, etc. I remember Mr. Foxe makes mention of a smith in King Edward the Sixth's days, who was instrumental to convert a young man; the young man being clapped in prison for the gospel's sake, sent for the smith, and asked him whether he would encourage him to stand for the truth, and to burn for religion; he answered, his cause was good, and he should do well to suffer for his religion—but for his part he could not bring his heart over to burn for religion. But a little time after his shop was set on fire, and he was burned in the midst of it. Oh! it would take up more time than is now allotted to me to set out the judgments of God that have befallen apostates that have been treacherous and base to God, to his ways, to his saints, and to the trust reposed in them.

[3.] Again, you may judge of the danger of apostasy by its near bordering upon the sin against the Holy Spirit, and by the exceeding difficulty of a man's recovering his ground, when he has once played the apostate, and turned his back upon God and his ways. Of all sins, the sin of apostasy comes nearest the unpardonable sin against the Holy Spirit. That soul that has turned his back upon God and his truth, and the ways of well-doing, because of discouragements, is now upon the borders of that sin, that if God leaves him but a little, he may fall into, and then he shall never rise again; which speaks out the dangerous nature of it.

[4.] And to shut up all, judge of the dangerous nature and evil of apostasy by this, that it renders all a man's former righteousness, doings, and sufferings invalid and lost: Ezek. 18:24, "If a man forsakes his righteousness, shall he live?" "No," says God, "he shall die"—ay, die with a witness: "in his iniquity which he has committed he shall die, and his righteousness shall be mentioned no more." There shall be no more talk—"This was a gallant man for God, and this man stood bravely up for his people and his ways." There shall be no mention of this, if a man plays the apostate. There shall be no pleading—This was once a worthy man, and stood gloriously to it. But now he is turned an apostate: he is turned away from God and his ways. All his righteousness, all his former actings and doings and sufferings shall be lost, and they shall never go to the grave with him, nor follow him to the judgment-seat of Christ: his apostasy shall follow him indeed—but for his former works of piety, they are all lost. As a soldier when he forsakes his colors and runs to the enemy, all his former good service is lost and buried in oblivion; so men who profess love to God and his people, and at last meet with difficulties and play the apostate, this their apostasy renders all their former service lost.

Thus much by way of motive to move you, all you who hear me this day, to persevere in the ways of well-doing, notwithstanding all the afflictions and discouragements that you may meet with in the ways of well-doing.
 

I shall now lay down a few DIRECTIONS. I shall be brief in them, and so draw towards a close.

1. First, if you would persevere in the ways of well-doing, notwithstanding all discouragements and afflictions, in which you must expect to have your share as well as others, and perhaps the greatest, therefore it stands you the more upon to consider of those things that may be of use to bear up your spirits bravely, to carry you through all the trials and troubles you may meet with. To that purpose,

(1.) There are some things that you must carefully DECLINE.

(2.) There are other things that you must carefully practice.

If you will persevere in the ways of well-doing against all oppositions, and notwithstanding all the afflictions and troubles that you may meet with, then,

[1.] First, Take heed of unbelief. There is nothing in the world that does more damp the heart, that ties the tongue, that binds the hands, that puts fetters on the feet, that puts out the eyes—than unbelief. Unbelief blinds the eyes, it ties a man's hands, and causes a sad and fearful damp to fall upon his heart. It renders the man utterly unfit to walk in the ways of God, especially when there is a lion in the way, and when the storm begins to rise: Heb. 3:13, "Take heed lest there be found in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, to depart from the living God." Unbelief will carry a man to apostasy. It has been the great reason of many men's apostasy and backsliding from God and his ways—that they could not hang on God and trust in God by faith—but unbelief was prevalent, and has carried them from God and all just ways. Therefore take heed of unbelief.

[2.] Secondly, If you would persevere in the ways of well-doing, notwithstanding all the discouragements you may meet with, take heed of an inordinate love to the things of this life. This made Judas and Demas to play the apostate, and Spira play the apostate. "Demas has forsaken us" to embrace this present world. He looked upon the world in its pomp, beauty, and glory; and his heart falls off from God and his ways. I remember it is storied of Henry the Fourth of France asking the Duke of Alva whether he had seen the eclipses; he answered, he had so much business to do on earth, that he had no time to look up to heaven. A man whose heart is engaged to the love of the world, will find so much to do in the world, that, with that wicked duke, he will have no time to look up to heaven for strength, to walk in heavenly and holy ways against opposition. It was a good saying of Augustine, "Surely they do not love Christ, who love anything more than Christ!" If your hearts are pitched more upon the world, and are engaged more to it than to Christ, you will never be able to persevere in the ways of well-doing.

[3.] Thirdly, If you would persevere in the ways of well-doing, take heed of consulting with flesh and blood. Take heed of listening and hearkening to carnal reason and carnal counsel; which has turned many a man out of the ways of God. When Paul was brought in to Christ—Gal. 1:14-16, "When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, to call me by his grace," as to send me to preach the gospel among the heathen, "immediately I consulted not with flesh and blood." If he had consulted with flesh and blood, he might have made several objections to have kept him off; "but I consulted not with flesh and blood:" flesh would have told him that the work was too high, too hard, too dangerous for him. "Oh but," says he, "I consulted not with flesh and blood."

[4.] Lastly, If you would persevere, notwithstanding all discouragements that may befall you, then take heed of judging of the ways of God, and of the ways of well-doing, by the opinion which wicked men have of them. Alas! wicked men are blind, and see not the beauty and loveliness that is in the ways of God. Wicked men are malicious against the ways of God, and will never speak well of them.
 

But again, If you would walk in the ways of well-doing against all discouragements, then as you must labor carefully to decline all those things—so you must labor to put in PRACTICE these things—

[1.] Frequently and solemnly cast up what you have gained by walking in the ways of God. Frequently and solemnly cast up your accounts, and see what you have gained by walking in the ways of God. Look over that power against corruptions, that strength to withstand temptations, that power to rejoice in afflictions, which you have gained in the ways of God. Look often over that "peace that passes understanding," and that heavenly joy and those blessed consolations which you have gained in the ways of God and in the ways of well-doing. When the mariner and the shopkeeper cast their eye upon their former gains, it encourages and enables their spirits to persevere against all the discouragements and troubles they may meet with in their way; and so it will do with you.

[2.] In the second place, See that you act and walk in the ways of God, and in the ways of well-doing, from internal and spiritual principles. Oh, I beseech you, all who hear me this day, as you would persevere in the ways of well-doing, look to your principles, that you act from spiritual and internal principles, from the power of the Spirit and the breathings of the Spirit, from love to God and a holy fear of God; and this will carry you bravely on against all discouragements you shall meet with. If you act from carnal and fleshly principles, and for carnal ends, as for honor or favor or profit, etc., you will never be constant in the ways of God—but when these ends cannot be answered, you will turn apostates, and turn back from God. Therefore, as you would persevere, look to your principles, that they may be sound.

[3.] Then, in the third place, If you would persevere in the ways of well-doing and in the ways of God, notwithstanding all the afflictions and troubles which may befall you, labor to exercise faith. Faith is a singular means to enable us to walk in the ways of God against all the discouragements which may befall us. I shall open it in those two things, which are worthy of your consideration. Faith will carry the soul through all discouragements and difficulties that the soul can meet with in the ways of God.

First, By being conversant about soul-greatening objects. Mark, this is One way by which faith enables the soul to persevere against

all discouragements, is by raising the soul to converse with soul-greatening objects, such as God and Christ, and those treasures, pleasures, and sweetnesses which are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Just so, in 2 Cor. 4 the last three verses, "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." How so? "We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Faith is conversant about unseen realities. While we keep a fixed eye upon future glory—while our faith is conversant upon that crown which never fades, upon those robes which never wither, upon that kingdom which can never be shaken—"inwardly we are being renewed day by day," and heavy afflictions are made light, and long afflictions are made short.

Thus faith enables the soul, and carries it bravely on against all discouragements, by conversing with soul-greatening objects. There is nothing which so enables the soul, and which so divinely greatens the soul and makes it too large, too wide, and too big for troubles and afflictions to discourage, than faith's conversing with those high and glorious eternal realities.

Second, Then faith does this, in the second place, by appropriating all to itself that it lays hands upon. Faith looks on God, and says with the psalmist, "This God is my God forever and ever; and he shall be my guide unto death." Faith looks on Christ, and says with Thomas, "My Lord and my God." Faith looks on the promises, and says, "These precious promises are mine." It casts an eye upon the crown of righteousness, and says with Paul, "Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." It looks upon all treasures, pleasures, and sweetness which are in Christ, and which are by Christ prepared for the soul, and says faith, "Those treasures are mine, those pleasures are mine, and all that sweetness that is in Christ is mine." Thus faith carries on the soul against all the discouragements which the soul can meet with.

[4.] Then again, in the next place, If you would persevere in the ways of well-doing, labor to increase and abound in LOVE. Oh let your love to God and love to his ways be augmented and increased! Oh look that love does its part, and then the soul will persevere! Cant. 8:6-7, "Love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned." Now I shall show you how love will enable the soul to persevere in the ways of God, and in the ways of well-doing, against all discouragements: and that it will do thus,

[1.] First, By egging all other graces on to act and operate. Love is a very active grace. It is the great wheel in the soul, which sets all other graces on work. Love is like to the virtuous woman, Proverbs 9:3, who sets all her maidens at work. Where love is strong in the soul, there no grace shall be idle in the soul. There love will call upon the other graces, "Faith, do you lay persevere that God and on that crown that is set before you. Patience, do wait on God, etc." It calls on all, and sets all on work. And now the more grace is acted, the more its strength is increased; and the more its strength is increased, the more the soul is enabled to walk in the ways of God, against all discouragements that does or can befall the soul. And,

[2.] Secondly, Love will enable you to persevere in the ways of God against all discouragements, by rendering all the ways of God sweet and pleasant to the soul. Love renders those ways sweet, which men who have no love to Christ, look on as bitter ways. "Every way is sweet and pleasant," says love, "his yoke is easy and his way is pleasant!" As it is in Proverbs 17, "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." In the abstract Love says, "This way is a precious way, and the other way of God, oh it is a heavenly way; I find much sweetness in it," says Love. And thus it encourages the soul to persevere in the ways of well-doing. For the more sweet and lovely the ways of God are presented to the soul, the more the soul is raised and encouraged to persevere in those ways of God, notwithstanding any affliction and trouble which the soul meets with.

I remember I have read a story of a Dutch schoolmaster, who said, "Were all the world a lump of gold, and in my hand to dispose of, I would lay it down at my enemy's feet, that with freedom and liberty I might live and walk in the ways of God, they are so lovely to my soul."

[3.] And then, thirdly, Love, it will enable the soul to persevere in the ways of well-doing against all discouragements, by putting a blessed interpretation, and a heavenly construction upon all the afflictions, sorrows, and discouragements which an upright heart can meet with in the ways of God. All the afflictions and discouragements which upright hearts meet with, love will thus interpret and expound: "Oh! all those afflictions are but means that God will use to rub off my dross and filth, to convey more of himself! They are all my friends, and shall work for my good! All those cursings God will turn to blessings," says Love. "All these afflictions which befall me, are but out of some noble designs that God has to reveal more of himself and of his glory to me. It is but that he may empty me more of myself and of the creature, so that he may communicate more of his own sweetness and fullness to my soul," says Love. "I know, though for the present it is bitter—yet," says Love, "it will be sweet in the end. I know the way to the crown by the cross, and I know all those afflictions shall lead me to more heavenly enjoyments of God!"

This construction David made concerning Shimei's cursing of him, 2 Sam. 16:12: when Shimei cursed him, David expounds it sweetly: ver. 12, "The Lord," says he, "will look on my affliction, and requite good for his cursing this day." This interpretation carries David along on his way, notwithstanding Shimei's cursing of him. "Oh! the Lord will turn the curse into a blessing!" says Love; and this carries him on bravely. Just so, in that 1 Cor. 13:5, "Love thinks no evil." It will put a sweet interpretation on all the afflictions which befall the soul; and the more sweet and heavenly interpretation Love makes of afflictions which befall the soul in the ways of God, the more the soul is raised and encouraged. "Well," says the soul, "if it is so, I will go on though the lions roar, etc." That is another means; if you will persevere in the ways of well-doing, then look that Love do its part—let Love be operative and working in your souls.

[5.] Lastly, I have but one thing more that I will press as to this, and so draw towards a close, and that is this, Look frequently and solemnly upon that "cloud of witnesses" who have gone before you. It is the apostle's own argument, Heb. 12:1-2, he brings down all those instances in the 11th chapter, and sets them before their eyes, and encourages them from that very consideration, "To run the race that was set before them with patience, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, and despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God." Oh, look upon those glorious worthies who held on in the ways of well-doing. Look upon Nehemiah, who held on bravely; and David, who though princes scorned him and persecuted him—yet he held on in the ways of well-doing. Just so, Paul and Jeremiah, etc., notwithstanding all their tossings, afflictions, and sufferings—yet held on in the ways of well-doing. Oh, why should you degenerate basely from those examples which are your crown and glory to follow?

So much by way of direction, as to enable you to persevere in the ways of well-doing against all discouragements that may befall you.

Now, Sirs, give me only permission to premise a few things to your considerations, desiring that those considerations may be your daily meditations; and so I shall close at this time.

[1.] The first thing I desire to present to your considerations is this, The doing of great things is most worthy of great men. Great men should do great things, and account themselves little. Oh Sirs, that by your means "the angel with the everlasting gospel in his hand might fly through our heavens," Rev. 14:6; especially that he might fly through those dark corners of the kingdom where thousands sit in darkness, and in the region and shadow of death! O, God is now about a glorious design to exalt his Son, and the children unborn shall rise and call you blessed, if you will be instrumental to further this design; and it were better that you had never been born, than that you should be instrumental to hinder those poor souls from enjoying the means of grace, who cry out, "Bread, bread for our souls!" who say, "Look upon us, and see if there is any sorrow like our souls' sorrow; if there is any darkness like that darkness which is upon us; if there is any grievance like that which is in us!"

The doing of great things is most worthy of great men. May the Lord stir up your hearts that you may further that glorious work; and may the Lord direct you that you may pitch on some way or other whereby those who sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, may be enlightened, and Christ revealed, and his kingdom exalted in this kingdom!

[2.] A second consideration that I premise for your meditation is this, That the saints are very dear and precious to the Lord Jesus Christ, and those who shelter them, he will shelter. They are his jewels, Mal. 3:17. The word there rendered jewels, signifies such particular treasures that he loves and lays up for himself, and for special use. They are "the apple of his eye," Zech. 2:8; their service is precious to him, Proverbs 15:8; their voice is precious, Cant. 2:14, "Let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your countenance is lovely;" their tears are precious, Psalm 56:8, "He puts them in his bottle;" and their names are precious, for he "writes them in his book," Luke 10:20; their very thoughts are precious, Mal. 3:16; and their blood is precious, Psalm 116:15, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints," and those who shelter them, God will shelter.

Ebed-melech sheltered Jeremiah in the day of the king's wrath, and God sheltered him in the day of God's wrath; Rahab sheltered the spies, and the Lord sheltered Rahab; Obadiah sheltered the prophets, and the Lord sheltered him. Sirs, God has made you in some blessed measure instrumental to shelter his people; and certainly that has been one great reason that God has sheltered you, notwithstanding all the designs, plots, and treacheries of men to destroy you. You have sheltered the saints, and God has sheltered you. They are always precious to him, and they should be always precious to you.

[3.] A third consideration for every day's meditation is, That it is very destructive and dangerous for the powers of this world to engage against the saints of God. I plead for all saints which Jesus Christ has stamped his image upon, whom he has taken into union and communion with himself. And I say it has been an old design of the devil to dash the powers of this world in pieces, by engaging them against the saints and servants of Christ. Little did Pharaoh know that the devil was in that design when he pursued Israel, "I will rise and pursue and overtake, my lust shall be satisfied;" but this was Pharaoh's destruction. His engaging against Israel was his overthrow. Haman engaged against the Jews—but this engagement against them was Haman's destruction, as you know.

Those princes (Dan. 6) who engaged against Daniel, and found nothing against him but in the matter of his God, you know their very engagement against him was their destruction. It is dangerous and destructive to the powers of this world for them to engage against the saints of God. I will only point at two or three scriptures Isaiah 8:8-10, "Associate yourselves together, O you people, and you shall be broken in pieces." The word "broken" in the Authorised Version, is twice more repeated, "You shall be broken in pieces, you shall be broken in pieces;" but in the Hebrew it is three times more repeated, "You shall be thrown down, you shall be thrown down, you shall be thrown down;" or "You shall be confounded, you shall be confounded, you shall be confounded,"—Why? "For God is with us," ver. 10.

Just so, in Zech. 12:2-3, "Jerusalem shall be a cup of trembling;" or "a cup of poison to all the nations round about; and though all the people of the earth should gather together against her, they shall be dashed in pieces:" Isaiah 54:17, "No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises in judgment against you shall you condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord; and their righteousness is of me, says the Lord."

[4.] Again, a fourth consideration for your daily meditation is this, That the power of godliness infinitely transcends and excels all forms of godliness. Alas! what is the shadow, compared to the substance? what is the shell, compared to the kernel? what is the box, compared to the jewel that is in it? No more are forms of godliness, compared to the power of godliness. What is darkness, compared to light? What are pennies, compared to gold? What is earth, compared to heaven? No more are forms of godliness, compared to the power of godliness; which does bespeak you to cherish, nourish, and countenance the power of godliness; and not so to advance forms of godliness as to throw down the power and the glory of holiness.

It is the power of godliness, which is the honor of a nation; it is the power of godliness that is the beauty of a nation; it is the power of godliness that is the safety of a nation. As you would have joy in life, and peace in death, and boldness before Christ's judgment-seat, oh look to this, that you advance the power of godliness, that you countenance the power of godliness, that you cherish and nourish the power of godliness. Take heed of stamping divine law on anything that Christ has not in capital letters stamped divine law upon. Oh take heed of giving a two-edged sword into the hands of any who are hot for forms of godliness, and who love to lord it over the faith and consciences of the saints, lest they cut off all who are higher than themselves in spiritual enjoyments of God, and stretch out all who are shorter than themselves in forms of godliness. I am apt to think that if such men were more careful and skillful in using the sword of the Spirit, they would not be so hot for a temporal sword, neither would they be so angry for the lack of it, as they are. A spiritual sword is most suitable to spiritual men, and most suitable to all that spiritual work that God requires of them.

God is most exalted, Christ is most honored, the Spirit is most rejoiced, the mouths of the wicked are most stopped, and the saints are most gladdened by the power of godliness—by countenancing, advancing, and cherishing of that. Therefore, as you would have the Lord exalted and lifted up, and made famous and glorious, oh let the power of godliness be countenanced and cherished throughout the kingdom!

The way of instructing the people of the nation, I leave it with you whom it most concerns, desiring the Lord to direct you into such ways as may be most for the honor of his name, and for the happiness and comfort of the land we live in. That is another consideration.

[5.] In the next place, consider this, God has, and God will save his people and ruin their enemies, by very weak, unlikely, and contemptible means, and by very hidden and mysterious ways. He has done it: witness his leading of Israel by the hand through the Red Sea, and overthrowing their enemies in a mysterious way. Witness his destroying of that mighty army of the Midianites—which were a multitude without number—by Gideon's three hundred men. The story you have in Judges 6 and 7, compared. Witness his delivering his people and ruining their grand enemy, Haman, by Esther's attempting that which was directly against the law of the land, Esther 4:10, 16. Haman had plotted the ruin of the Jews; all was agreed on; the writings were signed; there was but a step between death and the Jews. Esther adventures and throws herself upon God's providence, and comes to the court, directly cross to the law of the land, to the letter of the law; and by this untrodden way, which one would have thought might have enraged the king to have cut her and her people off—yet, by this untrodden way, delivered his poor people.

I will give you but only two or three texts: Isaiah 41:14-16, "Fear not, worm Jacob, and you men of Israel." "Fear not, you worm Jacob." The original signifies a very little worm. "And you men of Israel," that is, "you dead men of Israel." What follows? "Behold, I will make you a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff. You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and you shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel." Mountains are high, you know, and mountains are mighty, and mountains are strong; and so are the powers of the world; and yet little worms and dead men shall thresh these mountains, they shall overthrow and bring under even the powers which are high and strong and mighty against Jesus Christ and his ways, as we see this day. He will save his people, and destroy his enemies, though they be mighty and powerful, and in very untrodden and mysterious ways—by little worms, by dead men.

Just so, likewise Dan. 2:33-34, "While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth." Compare those verses with the 44th and 45th verses, "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever!" All the kingdoms which are against the kingdom of Christ shall be broken in pieces by this little kingdom.

"But now many nations are gathered against you. They say, "Let her be defiled, let our eyes gloat over Zion!" But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, he who gathers them like sheaves to the threshing floor. "Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron; I will give you hoofs of bronze and you will break to pieces many nations." You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of all the earth." Micah 4:11-13. Many nations are gathered together against you, that say, Let her be defiled, let her be polluted and profaned, and let our eyes look upon Zion. Oh—but they know not the thoughts of the Lord, what a design God is about, and what a project he has in hand to advance his name, and to deliver his people and ruin their enemies, and that by the most unlikely and contemptible means that can be!

Therefore, let not men wonder at such and such strange providences as sometimes fall out—but rather consider that God has, and he will save his people, and ruin their enemies—by very dark and mysterious ways, and by contemptible and unlikely means; and this he will do, so that no flesh may boast, and that his people may live a life of faith, and that their enemies may be the more dreadfully ashamed and confounded; and mainly that his own name may be alone exalted and magnified.

[6.] Lastly, it is the earnest desires of the people of God generally, that your hands may further be strengthened, and that your souls may be lifted up in the ways of the Lord, that justice and righteousness may run down now at the last among us as mighty streams. Now, as to this, give me only leave to premise these two cautions, and so I shall have done—

First, do justice—but do it with much pity and mercy. Oh! weep over those wounds which the sword of justice makes; mourn over those bones which the sword of justice breaks; lament over those members which the sword of justice cuts off. Look! as justice and mercy meet in God, and kiss in God, and act harmoniously in God; so let justice and mercy meet, and kiss, and act harmoniously in you.

Secondly, look to this, that you do justice from principles of uprightness, and from the love of justice and righteousness. Otherwise, remember this, that God may revenge that blood upon you—if you do not justice out of a love of righteousness, and from principles of uprightness. It is very considerable in Hosea 1:4-5, "And the Lord said unto him, Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel." Consider this, that which Jehu did, God himself bears witness to it: 2 Kings 10:30, "And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because you have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your children to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel." Jehu, for the matter of justice, did that which 

was right in the sight of the Lord. God here approves of it—but Jehu did not do justice from a love of justice, and a principle of uprightness. The matter was good—but his principles were bad. Therefore God tells him that he will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu. May the Lord make you wise to consider of these things!

What I have here delivered, has been in the discharge of my conscience, that I may give up my account at last with joy, and not with grief; and so I shall conclude with that saying of Augustine, "Not everyone who spares us is a friend, nor everyone who strikes us is an enemy."

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