Thomas Manton · 22 of 57

The First Verse. · Part 2

[4.] A light esteem of Christ. As we do not see our own needs, so not his worth. As the heart is, so it judgeth. A carnal heart valueth all things by outward pomp and splendour. Such objects take as are most excellent in the eyes of the world: Ps. cxliv. 15, ‘Happy is the people that is in such a case; yea, happy is the people whose God is the Lord.’ A man’s temper may be discerned by his valuation of things; carnal hearts cannot prize spiritual mercies. We prize those things that are most suitable to our desires: 1 Peter ii. 7, ‘To them that believe Christ is precious.’ He is an honour to them; they look upon him as a most attractive object, and therefore their hearts move after this loadstone. Everything is loved according to the suitableness and proportion it bears to our desires. Therefore see how Christ is spoken of by the faithful: Cant. v. 10, ‘As the chiefest among ten thousand;’ ‘He beareth the banner from ten thousand,’ as Ainsworth rendereth it. And in the 16th verse, ‘He is altogether lovely.’ But see what the world judgeth of him: Isa. lii. 14, ‘His visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.’ Look then to the value you have for a thing, for from thence will arise your endeavours after it. They that will be rich, are drowned and sunk in the cares of this world, they are all for moiling and business. They that love pleasures, their thoughts and the strength and vigour of their souls will run that way. So for honourable preferment, they that seek after it will spend all their thoughts about it. What a man valueth, it will be his work to gain. Therefore this high esteem of Christ taketh off men from these things, Acts xviii. 15, 16. He that thought the promulgation of the gospel to be but a strife about words and names, ‘cared for none of these things.’ This is the next hindrance; men that profess themselves Christians, make the getting of Christ the least of their care.

[5.] A presumptuous conceit that we have entertained Christ already. Many think every slight wish, every trivial hope, will serve the turn. Many would be scholars, if they did not think themselves so too soon. I would not weaken any man’s confidence; I know it is our office to establish it: ‘The fruit of our lips is peace.’ Isa. lvii. 19. But there are those to whom our God will not speak peace. ‘No peace, saith my God, to the wicked.’ Many wicked persons think it enough to be named Christians. It is an advantage, I confess, to be born a Christian, but to rest in it maketh it the greatest judgment that can be. People will reason thus, Do not all believe in Christ? Oh, no. Thou mayest profess Christ, and yet not believe in him. Many depend upon this that they are Christians, as the Jews did that they were the seed of Abraham. I shall touch upon this afterwards.

[6.] Hardness of heart. The mind will not stoop to Christ till it be tamed. John Baptist, that was to prepare the way for Christ, was to bring the mountains and hills low, Luke iii. 5. The heart must not only be serious, but humbled, if it would entertain this doctrine. A man must see his error before he will be willing to be governed by Christ, and guided into a better way: Acts ii. 37, ‘They were pricked at their hearts ‘before the apostle bid them ‘repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins.’ The heart never yields till it bleedeth with the sense of sin. We have been wrong, oh, what course shall we take? There must be a conviction of sin before that of righteousness. It is happy when both go together, John xvi. 9; so Acts xvi. 30, 31. First, ‘What shall I do to be saved?’ Then comes, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.’ A man hath no reason to begin a new way till he is convinced of the vanity of the old one. There must be at least so much of humiliation as to make a man anxious and solicitous about a better course. Well, then, here is another hindrance: a proud and unmortified spirit, a hard heart; a man must get humbled, That you may do so, examine your state by the law, and aggravate it by love. There is some apprehension of love, some general consideration that precedeth faith. You have done all this, and you have done it against a merciful God, and indeed that is a keen argument to wound the spirit: Joel ii. 14, ‘Rend your hearts, for God is merciful.’ See your sins, and aggravate them with unkindness. There is something in nature to make us relent, when we have done wrong to a kind person, that, for aught we know, meant better to us. But of this more by and by.

[7.] Self-confidence. When men’s consciences are troubled, they would fain get them eased. Those that are so greedy after quiet and peace, rather than holiness and grace, usually ease themselves in a wrong way; they fly to a few outward duties, or to some slight resolutions for God, and there rest. It is better to keep the conscience raw a while than to skin it over too soon; that will make the wound fester and rankle. Most desire ease too soon, they consult and contrive suddenly how they may ease themselves of that pain and horror that is upon them, and so vainly rest in the way of their own thoughts. A man should not look to be eased of grief till he find himself fitted for holiness, that he may not be engaged to the like grief again; otherwise we shall but stop the grief rather than cure it. We must be directed to a better course, and that must be only by Jesus Christ. It is a sign we are guilty of this self-confidence when we resolve upon a better life, and do not think how unable we are for it. Great resolutions are always vain, unless joined with the consideration of our own weakness. The people of God have promised much, but always it is with the concurrence of Christ. The apostle saith, Phil. iv. 12, ‘I can,’ or will ‘do all things,’ but it is ‘through Christ.’ David promiseth, Ps. cxix. 32, ‘I will run the ways of thy commandments;’ but he addeth, ‘when thou shalt enlarge my heart.’ There are divers such places in scripture. We walk in the strength of our resolutions when we do not see a need that Christ should help us, that we may not walk in the same ways of error and maze of misery again.

[8.] Carnal fears. These hinder the soul from closing with that mercy that is reported to be in Christ. They are of divers sorts.

(1.) Fear of God’s anger, as if he were so displeased with us that certainly he did not intend Christ for us. Why, consider, the more angry God is, the more need there is to fly to his mercy. His mercy is as infinite as his wrath, nay, I may say more infinite: Ps. cxxxviii. 2, ‘Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name;’ that is, God’s promise in Christ is greater than all other things by which he hath made himself known. Christ was an instance of infinite wrath and infinite mercy at the same time, but rather of infinite mercy. Nay; to clear all, God expressly saith, ‘Anger is not in me.’

(2.) Fear of being too bold with the promises. Take heed of complimenting with God. A man cannot be too bold where he is so freely invited: Mat. xi. 28, ‘Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden.’ You are unworthy to believe, but God is worthy to be obeyed. And ‘this is his commandment,’ 1 John iii. 3, ‘That we should believe in the name of Jesus Christ.’

(3.) Fear of the sin of presumption. Oh! they shall presume too much. A man doth not presume if he knoweth his own danger; if he be lost to himself and his own apprehension, it is pity he should be lost to God too. Presumers are seldom troubled about their estate; it is enough to disturb a false peace so much as to suspect it. There can be no presumption where there are no slight thoughts of sin and mercy. The mind cannot presume when it is serious.

[9.] Carnal reasonings from our sins. They are arguments of confidence, but not of dejection: Ps. xxv. 11, ‘Pardon my sin, for it is great.’ If so, it is the better for God to pardon. Sins should not hinder a man from duty. It is your duty to believe. The sense of sickness will cause us to make use of the physician. You cannot see anything in sin, but you may see more in Christ. Not greatness: Ps. lvii. 10, ‘Thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.’ Not number: Rom. v. 16, ‘The free gift is of many offences unto justification.’

[10.] And lastly, carnal apprehensions of Christ. We will believe no more to be in God than we find in ourselves: 1 Sam. xxiv. 19, ‘Who findeth his enemy, and slayeth him not? will he let him go well away?’ The soul in all her conclusions is only directed by premises experimental and of sensible apprehension. We think God is but as man; we are used to the dispositions of men, and therefore cannot believe there is anything more in God: Ps. l. 22, ‘Thou thoughtest I was altogether such an one as thyself.’ But remember, ‘God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent,’ Num. xxiii. 19; and Hosea xi. 9, ‘I will spare Ephraim, for I am God, and not man;’ so Isa. lv. 8-10, ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord: For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts:’ Jer. iii. 1, ‘If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return to her again? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return unto me again, saith the Lord.’

Use 1. Is by way of information. It informeth us of divers truths; as—

1. That the paucity or fewness of followers is no disgrace to a thing or doctrine. The world followeth the multitude, as if the way to religion were like that to a town, where there is the greatest track: Luke xii. 32, ‘Fear not, little flock,’ μικρὸν ποίμνιον. Christ’s flock is a little flock. The world usually casteth that prejudice. There may be but one Micaiah against four hundred false prophets.

2. It informeth us that the number of believers is not as large as the number of professors: 2 Thes. iii. 2, ‘All men have not faith.’

3. That it is a very difficult thing to believe, and therefore so few attain it.

Use 2. Is by way of examination. If but few are won to believe this report, examine yourselves—Are you of the number? Are you of the number of those that are won by the preaching of the word to believe in Christ? I will name a few effects:—

1. If so, you will find this persuasion melting you: Zech. xii. 10, ‘I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and supplication: and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.’ God and the soul come together just as Saul and David: 1 Sam. xxiv. 16, ‘Saul lift up his voice and wept; Is this thy voice, my son David?’ Thus the soul, Oh! didst thou love me so, O Lord my God?

2. You will find it teaching you a way to resist sin. You could not tell how to prevail against it before, now you have a cutting argument against it: Titus ii. 11, 12, ‘The grace of God, that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men; teaching us, that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.’ Now you are taught to gainsay sin.

3. You will find it quickening you to good: 2 Cor. v. 14, ‘The love of Christ constraineth us.’ Such melting commands and commanding entreaties have a powerful influence to that effect: ‘I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.’

I shall now come to the second point, namely—

II. That the gospel, or the report concerning Jesus Christ, is the arm and power of God. Though it be our report, yet it is the arm of the Lord. There is some controversy, as I hinted before, about what is meant by the arm of the Lord; some applying it to Christ, some to the word. I rather incline to the latter; but it is good to observe, that what is spoken of Christ, the same is spoken also of the word. Christ is called ‘the power of God,’ 1 Cor. i. 24; and the gospel is called ‘the power of God,’ 1 Cor. i. 18; Rom. i. 16; because in the word Christ is made known, and his excellencies are displayed. And what is spoken of the word is spoken of faith. Christ is revealed to the heart by the word, and so he is likewise by faith.

But in what respect is the gospel the arm and power of God?

I answer:—

1. In respect of the sense and meaning of it, which is to be regarded above the bare sound of the letters and syllables. Many make a charm of the word of God, by applying some sentences of it to drive away diseases in a way of exorcism and conjuration, or by coming to it in a customary way, as if the mere hearing or reading of it were sufficient; as if salvation were to be had by the bare hearing of it: John v. 39, ‘Search the scriptures,’ saith our Saviour, ‘for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.’ Δοκεῖτε ἐν αὐταῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, ‘ye think ye have;’ this is not barely a command, but a reproof, otherwise Christ would have said ‘ye shall.’ He speaketh it to the pharisees and hypocrites that had rejected him.

2. In regard it manifests the power of God. There are instances of God’s eternal power in the creatures, Rom. i. 20, but the great and mighty instances of his power are discovered in the word. God showeth his strength every day, but in the gospel he holdeth forth ‘the man whom he hath made strong for himself,’ Ps. lxxx. 15, the branch or Son, meaning Christ—though he is there speaking of the church’s afflictions: ‘The vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou makest strong for thyself.’

3. It is said to be the arm and power of God, chiefly as it is a glorious instrument in his hands, as a weapon that is managed by the Spirit, which will work mightily indeed. It is observable that when Isaiah speaketh of the word as pronounced by the prophets, he saith our report; but as revealed by the Spirit, the arm of the Lord. You must understand it as accompanied with the Spirit’s efficacy: 2 Cor. x. 4, ‘The weapons of our warfare are mighty through God;’ there lies its force. So 2 Cor. iii. 6, ‘Who hath made us able ministers of the new testament: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.’ He calleth the law the letter, as it showeth what is to be done, but ministereth no abilities. The letter killeth, leaveth us miserable, but the gospel, accompanied with the Spirit, is an efficacious instrument to beget life in us; because all the efficacy thereof depends upon the Spirit, therefore, in opposition to the law, it is called spirit.

4. It is called the arm and power of God, because in one sense it worketh much even upon those on whom it has the least effect. It is powerful to their destruction, if not to their salvation: Heb. iv. 12, ‘The word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword.’ It is ‘the savour of death unto death,’ if not ‘of life unto life.’ It is not a dead letter even there where it cannot obtain the least entrance into the heart; it bindeth them over to judgment, if it cannot force them over to obedience. It is a heavy arm of God to the wicked; if they be not converted, they are judged, by the word. An arm, you know, is used in scripture in both senses, to protect friends, and to destroy enemies; and to that purpose it is said of God by the Psalmist: Ps. lxxxix. 13, ‘Thou hast a mighty arm; strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.’ This mighty power of the word appears divers ways.

[1.] It troubleth sinners. The power of the gospel awakeneth their consciences, for fear of which they cannot so freely run into such excess and outrage as otherwise they would, Acts xxiv. 25. When Paul ‘reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled.’ When a guilty conscience is touched, it is enraged: Acts vii. 54, ‘When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and gnashed on him with their teeth.’ It causeth a tumult in the soul of a guilty creature; if nothing else, the word worketh such a trouble in them, that they cannot be at rest in their minds.

[2.] It worketh some faint resolutions in sinners to look after Christ: Acts xxvi. 28, ‘Thou almost persuadest me to be a Christian.’ They have much ado to put off the force of the word, and therefore are even won by it. It argueth a mighty power in the gospel, that it can put a wicked man on acting, though weakly, against the bent and inclination of his evil heart. And it is some argument of the divine power in the gospel, that men are brought thereby to wish and resolve against their evil practices, though they will not leave them.

[3.] It judgeth them, it bindeth them over to eternal punishment; as it is said, 1 Cor. xiv. 24, of the unbeliever, ‘He is convinced of all, he is judged of all;’ that is, his sentence is passed upon him in the word: John iii. 18, ‘He that believeth not is condemned already;’ that is, the power of the word is passed upon him: Mark xvi. 16, ‘Go preach the gospel to every creature; he that believeth not shall be damned.’ That is the peremptory sentence of the gospel.

[4.] It punisheth them, the arm of God is upon them. It is said to the stubborn Jews, Zech. i. 6, ‘But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers?’ Mark, not so much the wrath and vengeance of God, as the prophet’s words. So it is said, 1 Kings xix. 17, ‘It shall come to pass, that he that escapeth the sword of Hazael, shall Jehu slay: and he that escapeth from the sword of Jehu, shall Elisha slay.’ So Hosea vi. 5, ‘I have hewed them by my prophets: I have slain them by the words of my mouth.’ So much for the determination of this point.

To prove it now, it will appear by two things:—

1. By the uses for which God did appoint it.

2. By the glorious effects of it, suitable to those ends of God. I shall handle both together.

Let us consider the uses for which God did appoint the publication of the gospel, and certainly you will then say it is the arm of the Lord. God’s designs by the preaching of the gospel are either public or private.

First, Public, which are—

1. To purchase and gain the world for a kingdom and an inheritance for Jesus Christ.

2. To conquer all the enemies of Christ.

Secondly, Private, so it is to convert souls. The appointment of the gospel for these ends showeth there is the arm of God in it.

First, Public, which are—

1. To purchase the whole world for a kingdom and an inheritance for Jesus Christ. This is the main end of the gospel, and therefore it is called, Ps. cx. 2, ‘The sceptre and rod of Christ’s strength.’ The gospel is the sceptre of Christ; it was by the word that he was to sway the nations; and so Mat. xiii. 19, it is called ‘the word of the kingdom.’ Now, how should a man purchase a kingdom but by his arm? Great enterprises require proportionable strength, and therefore such a glorious design as this necessarily calleth for the arm and power of God. That this reason may have its due force on you, do but consider what it is to purchase the world for Christ, and what prejudices and difficulties there are against it that must be overcome.

[1.] The report of Jesus Christ was a despised truth. If a man would win others to his conceits and opinions, policy requireth that he should make them as plausible as he can. It is difficult to win a people from their old religion, though a new one that is proposed be never so agreeable to reason. But now, when this is utterly inconsistent with our former apprehensions and notions about religion, the mind riseth against it; it stoppeth all further inquiry after the truth of it. Now such was the report of Jesus Christ to all the world: you may divide them into Jews and Gentiles. The Jews were to be brought off from their fond esteem of Moses and the prophets; the Gentiles were to be won from their old vain religions, received by traditions from their fathers: and we well know by experience how ill changes in religion are brooked in the world. But that was not all; they were to leave their religion that they had so long professed, and to expect (what they thought very absurd) eternal life and happiness by him whom they looked on as an object of misery, and who suffered such a shameful death himself: 1 Cor. i. 18, ‘The preaching of the cross was to them that perished foolishness.’ It might well be so among them that perished; the prejudice was as great among them that professed: Mat. xxvii. 42, ‘He saved others; himself he cannot save: if he be the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross, and we will believe in him.’

[2.] It was given forth by despised persons. If a man would be prevailed with by any, he would be by men of some repute and renown in the world. But now, Ps. viii. 6, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength.’ If babes and sucklings could prevail so much by the use of their mouths, certainly there is some secret and invisible force in such doctrines, or else it would not prevail for babes and sucklings to speak so prevailingly as Christ promised: Luke xxi. 15, ‘I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall never be able to gainsay nor resist.’ So much power in so much appearing weakness argueth a divine arm.

2. The next end was to conquer the enemies of Christ. To conquer their minds, or destroy their bodies, the best weapon is the gospel, especially to do the former. This is the ark that beats all the Dagons in pieces. It is said, Isa. xi. 4, ‘He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.’ Mark, it is with the rod of his mouth; the gospel slayeth the outward enemies, and the mists of error do inwardly vanish before this sun. As—

[1.] The paganish rites and worship were forced to give place to it, as the oracle of Delphos, which had voice enough left to proclaim its own silence, and also that among the rocks of Sicily. But then—

[2.] As to antichristianism, God hath appointed the word to be a weapon against it: 2 Thes. ii. 8, it is said, ‘God shall consume them with the spirit of his mouth, and with the brightness of his coming.’ God bloweth in the mouth of his ministers the force of their words against Antichrist; it is the spirit or breath of his mouth. When the gospel was a little revived by Luther, how many of his kingdom did Antichrist lose? The goose-quill gave him a deadly wound, saith Beza; Rev. xi. 13: when the witnesses had finished their testimony, ‘the tenth part of the city fell.’ This is a most powerful engine to shake the strongholds of that city, these blasts of the gospel. The great policy of that party is to withhold people from the knowledge of the gospel. When Dr Day discoursed with Stephen Gardiner concerning free justification by Christ, saith he, ‘O Mr Doctor, open that gap to the people, and we are undone!’ The more gospel there is discovered, the more Antichrist is discovered. Free grace puts the foundation of that way out of course.

[3.] All lesser errors, like the little foxes, are slain by this sword. Those that went greedily after Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, what doth God say to them? ‘Repent, or I will come and fight against thee with the sword of my mouth,’ Rev. ii. 16; that is, with his word. That is punishment enough, to detect their errors by the gospel. The sword is put for a powerful weapon; the sword in the mouth showeth it was the word; God’s appointing it to these great uses argueth there is a divine power in it.

Secondly, Private; and that is to convert souls: Ps. xix. 7, ‘The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.’ This is such a difficult work that it must needs require a divine power. That this may be of use to you, I shall show you what a difficult thing it is to convert a soul, there being so many obstacles and hindrances against it, and yet the word is the only fit instrument to overcome them.

1. There is Satan, who is strong. The devil hath great power to possess the hearts of wicked men; he is said to ‘work in the children of disobedience.’ Eph. ii. 2. Those frequent possessions in Christ’s time were a discovery of that spiritual thraldom in which the heart of man is engaged whilst in the service of the devil: 2 Tim. ii. 26, ‘That they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.’ As violent tempests whirl things at their pleasure, so doth he our blinded understandings and crooked wills. We are taken of the devil in his snare, to be led about at his will and pleasure. Well, then, no power but that of God can set us free; it must be by the mighty ministry of his arm. The strong man will hold fast till he be cast out by a stronger than he, Luke xi. 22. It is not so easy dispossessing the old man, and to turn from the power of Satan to the power of God.

2. The perverseness of man’s heart. The chief hindrances there are these:—

[1.] Subtle evasions, crafty pretences, whereby to evade and escape the power of the word: Heb. iv. 12, ‘Piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit.’ The soul is that faculty wherein the affections do reside; the spirit is the reasoning power; it discovereth the closest affections of the heart, and the most secret plots and devices of the spirit; it telleth the heart how it cleaveth to sin, and the mind how it plotteth pretences to hide it. The mind and spirit conspire together.

[2.] Crafty disputes and reasonings. There are great and many perverse debates in our hearts against the things of God; therefore the apostle expresses the power of the word thus: 2 Cor. x. 5, ‘Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God; and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.’ It demolisheth all carnal reasonings, and convinceth of truth. Then—

[3.] Swelling lusts. To tame these, nay, to set up the work of grace instead of these, must needs argue a divine hand. It is a hard matter to break the course of any inclination, much more of a rooted affection; to break the very course of nature; to turn lions into lambs, as it is said, ‘The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.’ There shall be such a wonderful change, that the violence and turbulency of the affections shall be done away. To make the filthy and intemperate to become chaste and sober, and to make the proud to become humble, argueth the great power of God. Thus you see how it overcometh difficulties.