Thomas Manton · 23 of 57

The First Verse. · Part 3

But now observe how powerfully and wonderfully the word worketh this. It is not by a fond conceit and opinion of it in the minds of men: ‘The simple believeth every word,’ as it is said in the Proverbs; and some weak persons may be easily awed into a scrupulous fear. But, on the contrary—

(1.) It hath wrought upon them that have been cast upon it unawares, that looked for no such thing. The apostle saith of unbelievers: 1 Cor. xiv. 24, ‘And there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned; he is convinced of all, he is judged of all,’ if he be by chance put upon the ordinances. Thus we read in the story of Austin and of Firmus, who, though they looked for nothing less, yet were wrought upon, and converted to God.

(2.) Those that came with a mind to despise the word have been won by it. The unbeliever that cometh in falleth down on his face, 1 Cor. xiv. 25. It may bring men that have wrong conceits of the ways of God on their faces, and to say, ‘God is in them of a truth.’

Use 1. Is exhortation. And that—

1. To ministers. Is the gospel the arm and power of God? Then—

[1.] Be not ashamed of it, but preach it boldly. St Paul saith, Rom. i. 16, ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.’ Many are ashamed of the naked simplicity of the gospel, and therefore hanker the more after profound parts and human learning. You must imitate Christ; preach boldly, as having authority from him.

[2.] Wait for the success of it. Doubt of success is a great discouragement, and taketh off the wheels of a man’s ministry. Refer it to God; it is his own arm, if it cannot be mighty through us, it will be mighty through God: Jer. i. 9, ‘I have put my words in thy mouth.’ It is a great lesson of holy wisdom, if we could learn it, to mind duty, and refer the success to God.

[3.] To dispense it faithfully; not to use God’s arm for our own ends. There is a preaching the gospel out of envy, Phil. i. 16. This is a put ting God in a servility to our designs, a prostituting of the greatest power to the vilest uses, an embasing a thing beneath its office.

[4.] To dispense it so as to look to the Spirit to make it effectual; not to think to make it work by our own fancies: 1 Cor. ii. 4, ‘My preaching was not with the enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.’ A minister may be apt to be too full of self. The old Adam may be too hard for young Melancthon. It is said of Christ, Luke xxiv. 32, that ‘he opened the scriptures;’ and ver. 45, ‘Then he opened their understandings, that they might understand the scriptures,’

2. To the people.

[1.] To all in general.

[2.] To those to whom the arm of the Lord is revealed and made known.

[1.] To all in general: to press them to see God in his word. Many see no more than what is of man, and therefore are not wrought upon by it. The power of God is veiled under our weakness: 1 Thes. ii. 13, ‘Ye received it not as the word of men, but (as it is in truth) the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.’ But what is it to receive it as the word of God?

I answer—It is to receive it:—

(1.) With reverence. It is a description of God’s people that they ‘tremble at his word,’ Isa. lxvi. 2, 5. Do not slight it as if it were but a little sound poured out into the air.

(2.) Look up unto God, and wait upon him for this power to be let into your hearts. See that, besides the report, you have a discovery of God’s power and arm. Do not rest contented with enjoying the word till you feel the power of God making it effectual on your hearts. Oh, be careful lest it should work upon you the wrong way, and prove the savour of death unto death! As the people waited^for the angel’s stirring of the waters, so do you for the Spirit’s motion. Man’s voice can but pierce the ear: Cathedram habet in coelis qui corda docet, God only can reach the heart.

(3.) Receive it into your hearts, open your souls for it with such a resolution as is expressed, Acts x. 33, ‘We are all here present before thee, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.’ Then it is a sign we are willing to take home the message to ourselves.

(4.) Let not your thoughts rest in the abilities of the minister, if your hearts be touched: Acts iii. 12, ‘Peter answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly upon us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?’ It is not our report, but God’s arm; we are but the instruments, his arm must do the work.

[2.] To those to whom the arm of the Lord is made known, two duties I shall exhort them unto:—

(1.) To behold and admire the power of God working in them for their salvation: Eph. i. 19, ‘That ye may know the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.’ A man doth not know the excellency of this power till he takes a review of it. Man can better observe such experiences when past, when he seeth and feeleth such a power of God upon his soul.

(2.) To walk worthy of it in their conversation;—to walk so as a man may perceive the power of God hath passed upon him: 1 Peter ii. 9, ‘That you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.’ Inward holiness is expressed by the power of godliness. Take heed of having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. Oh, do not carry it as if there were no power passed upon you!

Use 2. Is of examination. See whether any of this power hath passed upon your hearts. Have you ever felt the power of the Spirit in the ordinances, that will convince of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment?

1. Hath it powerfully humbled you for sin? There is the power of the word seen to bring men upon their faces, and to make them lay their mouths in the dust, 1 Cor. xiv. 25. The first work is to humble the heart and to subdue the pride of it.

2. Is it powerful to comfort and refresh the soul? Every man hath not comfort, but every man that hath it can tell which way it cometh: Ps. xciv. 19, ‘In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul.’ What is the refreshment of your hearts? Is it not the power of God’s Spirit? When a man is in distress, it is known what he maketh his trust in: then we shall see what our heart fetcheth comfort from. Do you look upon gospel comforts as powerful? John xvi. 33, ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall have rest; be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’

3. Is it powerful to enable to holiness? You will then be able to gain upon your lusts more, they will not be so pleasing to you: Ps. cx. 3, ‘Thy people shall be a willing people in the day of thy power.’ You will be made ready to duty, and be more cheerful in God’s service, when the power of the word hath passed upon you.

I now proceed to the last point observable in this verse, which is:—

III. That none believe the report that is made of Jesus Christ, but those to whom it is revealed by the Spirit.

It is meant of an inward revelation; though it were outwardly proclaimed in their ears, yet the power of the report was not secretly conveyed into their hearts. The arm of the Lord was not revealed to them. Or thus:—

The cause why so few are won to believe in Jesus Christ is because they have not the Spirit’s revelation.

This I shall prove to you by these reasons:—

1. Because without the Spirit’s revelation all the outward tenders and reports^of Jesus Christ will be to no purpose. The efficacy of the word lieth in the Spirit’s assistance. I told you in the former point how powerful the word of God is, but withal I told you it was when the Spirit sets it home upon the heart. God may knock at the door and yet no man open to him; and, therefore, he speaketh by way of supposition, if he doth but barely knock: Rev. iii. 20, ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with me.’ It is put upon an if: it is a great peradventure whether any man will open the door or no, when it is but a bare knock of the word. The spouse pleadeth excuses when Christ stood and knocked, saying, ‘Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled,’ Cant. v. 2; but in the 4th verse it is said, ‘My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him;’—that signifieth the working of his Spirit, and then she opened. Men would fain take one nap more in sin when they are roused by the ministry; but when God puts his fingers upon the handles of the lock, Christ hath an admittance and the door then flieth open: Acts xi. 19-21, ‘The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.’ God’s hand was upon the lock. If the word be anywhere spoken of as powerful, it is in reference to the Spirit, as 1 Thes. i. 5, ‘Our word came unto you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost;’ therefore in power, because in the Holy Ghost.

2. Because the Spirit’s revelation is the token of God’s special love; and that is not given to every one: God has appointed his special love but for a few. The outward revelation is to leave men without excuse; it is but a token of God’s common love: 2 Cor. iv. 3, ‘If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost—‘hidden from their hearts, though it be revealed to their ears. Those that are lost have not the inward discoveries—that is, the effectual discovery and special effect of God’s peculiar love: Acts xiii. 48, ‘As many as were ordained to eternal life believed;’ such have God’s special love. Those that have least have many times an outward revelation: Acts xiv. 17, ‘God left not himself without a witness, in that he did good;’ yet, ver. 16, ‘he suffered them to walk in their own ways.’ They had a revelation, but they had not an efficacious revelation. And in this sense it is said, that ‘many are called but few are chosen,—many are invited and few wrought upon. They have the doctrine of life propounded to them, but they have not the Spirit of life setting it home upon their hearts; few taste of God’s special love.

3. Because the least of Christ that is made known to the soul is made known by the Spirit; even common illumination, any slight taste of the doctrine of life, it cometh from the Spirit. Those that apostatised afterwards are said, Heb. vi. 4, to be ‘made partakers of the Holy Ghost.’ A historical persuasion of the truth of the articles of religion flows hence. There are some things like this inward effectual revelation in the hearts of wicked men, namely, some notional irradiations and illuminations in many profound mysteries of the scripture. In this sense is that place to be understood: 1 Cor. xii. 3, ‘No man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed;’ and that, ‘No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost.’ Even their common illumination and profession that Jesus is the Lord was from the Holy Ghost. And so that, Mat. xvi. 16, 17, ‘Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered, Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.’ He did not learn this from nature, but from a revelation. Even, I say, a notional apprehension of these truths, without any fiducial assent given to them, is from the manifestation of the Spirit, and, therefore, much more is this the cause of believing.

4. Because there is so much corruption in a man that hindereth the soul from believing in Jesus Christ, that it cannot be done away without the Spirit’s manifestation. There is a double seat of this corruption—the mind and the heart. First, In the mind there is ignorance and unteachableness. Secondly, In the heart there is obstinacy and carelessness; which things cannot be conquered any otherwise than by the Spirit of God. Let us look upon these things severally. Consider a man naturally as he is:—

[1.] In his mind; and so—

(1.) There is ignorance; he hath no savoury apprehension of the truths of God: 1 Cor. ii. 14, ‘The natural man receiveth [not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.’ There is no suitableness between the heart and the things of Christ; and, therefore, though they understand the words, they have confused apprehension of the thing, and cannot tell what to make of them for their comfort and peace. These sottish conceits in the minds of men prepossess them against the receiving of Jesus Christ. They are like leaky vessels that cannot hold this precious liquor; the cockleshell of their brains cannot empty this ocean. A natural man hath abundance of confused, indistinct, indefinite conceits of Jesus Christ. Festus said, Acts xxv. 19, That the Jews and Paul had ‘a controversy about their own superstitions, and of one Jesus, that was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive;’ as if it were no more. And the like conceits are to be found not only in him but in all natural men. They do but look upon him as Austin in his infancy said he did upon God, Tanquam aliquem magnum—as some great remedy against all evils. Now these conceits, though they be a little rectified in some by pregnancy of wit, ripeness of experience, and industrious meditation, yet no savoury knowledge, nor wisdom to salvation, can be fetched out of these divine truths but by the Spirit. We cannot learn Christ, as the apostle speaketh. A man may know Christ, but he hath not learned Christ, Eph. iv. 20. That supposeth a teacher, which is the Spirit of God: John vi. 45, ‘They shall all be taught of God.’ The Spirit teacheth us Christ, so as to have communion and fellowship with him—to fetch comfort out of him; and this helpeth our natural light, and doth indeed set off Christ to us: Job xxxii. 8, ‘There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.’ Then we begin to look upon Jesus Christ with a true and distinct eye. A man may have eyes, but if he have not light he cannot see well, nor discern the distinct shape of things. Light must come to light;—first the light of the sun or candle to the light of the eye. Thus our reason must be helped to fasten upon divine truths so as to fetch comfort out of them. Thus ignorant men cannot tell what to make of the promises of the gospel or the commandments of the gospel, what to think of Christ or what to believe. Therefore, it is said, 1 Cor. ii. 10, ‘The deep things of God’ are ‘revealed to us by his Spirit;’ that giveth us the knowledge of the truth and worth of them.

(2.) Unteachableness. We are not only in the dark, but blind; we have not only lost the use, but the faculty: 1 Cor. ii. 14, ‘The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.’ We have no spiritual eyes, and therefore we cannot see spiritual things. Things are apprehended by us according as they carry a proportion and suitableness to our hearts. Now our hearts are so gross that we cannot measure truths by them. This unteachableness remaineth in the soul till the Spirit disposes it to knowledge; and therefore St Paul prayeth, Eph. i. 17, 18, ‘That God would give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation r and open the eyes of their understanding’—take away the scales, And so you read, Luke xxiv. 29, That Christ ‘opened their understanding;’ i.e., made it teachable. The word is not only proposed to them to rectify their apprehensions of Christ, but their minds are opened; which implieth, that as they had no light, so they had closed eyes, a wicked mind as well as a weak mind, a mind disaffected, prejudiced, full of corrupt principles and reasonings that are advanced the truth.

[2.] In the heart there is carelessness and stubbornness. And therefore, as God must teach their minds, so he must draw their hearts; as it is said, John vi. 44, ‘No man cometh unto me, except the Father draw him.’ The power of the Spirit must be put forth into the soul to bend it to Christ.

Let us take notice of these two evils.

(1.) Carelessness. Men slight Christ, and then they are not won to believe in him. This carelessness cometh from two things:—

(1st.) A love of ease. Men cannot think of Christ without reluctancy, and they are loth to put themselves to the trouble. When the spouse is lodged in the bed of security, see how she pleadeth: ‘I have put off my coat, how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them?’ A carnal, careless heart, that loveth ease, sticketh at every little hesitancy and vain excuse. In hot countries, where they went barefoot, they were wont to wash their feet after travel. They are loth to arise to entertain Christ for fear of trouble and loss to themselves: Prov. xx. 4, ‘The sluggard will not plough because of the cold.’ Many do not care for Christ, because it will cost them some pains and care to pursue after him. They must follow him through so many prayers, meditation, and observation, that they had rather sit still. There is need of a great deal of revelation to make the soul seriously to attend. The spouse fainted, Cant. v. 6, when Christ put his finger into the key-hole of the lock: ‘Then I rose up and opened to my beloved, and my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone; my soul failed when he spake.’ When he beginneth to touch the wards of the heart, all idle excuses vanish, then nothing but Christ will satisfy the heart. So Acts ii. 37, ‘When they were pricked in their hearts, then they cried out, Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Men that are not converted indulge their vain thoughts and excuses still; but when that is once past, they cannot dally with salvation any more: Acts xvi. 30, the jailer saith ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ Oh, tell me quickly, it can brook no delay!

(2dly.) Doting upon other excellencies. One love, like a nail, driveth out another, A man slighteth a thing when the stream of his affections are carried another way. Some had a farm, some a yoke of oxen, some had married a wife, some one excuse, some another; but. they all said, ‘I cannot come.’ Men are severally taken up, either with honours, or profits, or pleasures; but all keep from Christ. Therefore there is need of the Spirit’s revelation, to display the beauties of Christ before the soul, that they may see that there is more in this beloved than in other beloveds, Cant. v. 9; that so the force of our ill affections may be broken, and the stream of the heart diverted another way, and brought about to Christ. This is that which is desired in that request, ‘Draw me; we will run after thee,’ Cant. i. 4; that the Spirit would display the glory of Christ to the soul, that we may look upon him as an attractive object, and so find our hearts and our desires following after him. Thus for carelessness.

(2.) Stubbornness of heart, that is another thing. There is a wilfulness in men; they will not believe, because they will not believe. Men will not close with Jesus Christ; God showeth them the way, and they contemptuously reject it: John v. 40, ‘Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life.’ Christ inviteth men by the gospel: ‘Come unto me, all you that are weary and heavy laden;’ and they will not come; there is no answer in the heart to God’s call because of this stubbornness of spirit. But now, when gospel invitations are seconded with the Spirit’s motions, they command their own entrance into the soul, the heart submits to the way that God revealeth for its good. The heart, like a quick, strong echo, returneth the full answer of gospel demands: Ps. xxvii. 8, ‘When thou saidst unto me, Seek ye my face, my heart said, Thy face, Lord, will I seek;’ Zech. xiii. 9,‘I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God.’ So much for the proof of the point.

I shall answer a doubt or two before I go on to the application.

The doubts are these:—

1. If the want of the Spirit’s revelation be the cause why so few believe, how can God be just in punishing men for their unbelief, since he doth not give them all a like revelation?

I answer—Two ways: First, From God’s sovereignty: Exod. xxxiii. 19, ‘I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy;’ so Rom. ix. 15, 16. God’s will is the measure of his actions, as the moral law is the measure of our actions. That is a rule to us, not to God; he giveth no account of his matters, he acteth out of infinite sovereignty, and so he may do what he pleaseth Who shall set a task for him? Mat. xi. 25, 26, ‘I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so. Father, because it seemed good in thy sight.’ That is the upshot of all, and the result of all disputes about it: ‘Even so, Father, because it pleaseth thee.’ He doth not tell you for what cause it pleased the Father; but even so it pleased him, as if that were reason enough: it is just because it pleased the Father. You are not to be judges of God’s actions, but doers of his will. God made you not to censure him, but to give him glory. The pattern of all justice is to be copied out from God’s will; it is just because God did it.

Secondly, The beauty of God’s justice shineth in this, in that the positive cause of unbelief—

[1.] Is in ourselves, it being through our own blindness and stubbornness. We ‘will not come to him that we may have life.’ Hosea xiii. 9, ‘O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help.’ God is the positive cause of faith, the privative cause of unbelief. The Spirit’s revelation worketh faith; but in case of the want of it, our own perverse hearts are the cause of unbelief. If the earth be light, it is from the sun; but if it be dark, it is through the want of the sun, that is from itself: 2 Cor. iv. 3, ‘If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.’ It is to those that take a course to ruin themselves.

[2.] Men do not their utmost, and therefore are justly punished, because they did not what they were able to do to get faith. He is justly condemned that complaineth of the length of the way, and therefore doth not stir one foot to see whether he shall conquer it, yea or no: Mat. xxv. 26, ‘Thou wicked and slothful servant.’ Many complain, as if God required brick and gave no straw. They are wicked and slothful; they do not what they should. Men had rather accuse God than reflect upon their own idleness; they will not come to him.

[3.] They abuse their parts, and are so far from improving of them to the utmost, that they employ them against God: Jude 10, ‘What they know naturally as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.’ So 2 Peter ii. 12, it is said, ‘They utterly perish in their .own corruptions.’ There is wickedness enough in them to cause the wrath of God to proceed against them. This is the first doubt.

2. The next is (which is somewhat answered out of this) if this because—viz., the want of the Spirit’s revelation—Why then should we labour after faith? Our labour will not do without the revelation of the Spirit..

Ans. [1.] We should labour after it, to see our own weakness, that we may look up to God the more earnestly for it. Men think it is easy to believe till they put themselves upon the trial. They do not see a need of the Spirit till they perceive the fruitlessness of their own endeavours: ‘If thou appliest thy heart to understanding, and criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as hidden treasure; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God,’ Prov. ii: 3-5.

[2.] That we may manifest our obedience to God, and meet him in his own way. He hath commanded us to believe; let us do what we can towards it. Improve your natural abilities, and use the means that God hath appointed, and refer the success to him: Luke v. 5, ‘Master, we have toiled all night, and catched nothing; nevertheless, at thy command I will let down the net.’ Consider God’s prerogative over you, and make the best of the power you have; and if for nothing else, yet at his command perform thy duty. God hath enabled you to do somewhat, and he may justly require you should do the utmost of it. Every man hath a command over his locomotive faculty; he can choose whether he will come hither or go thither. Every man can ‘watch at the gates of wisdom,’ Prov. viii. 34, ‘and wait at the posts of her door.’ Therefore, let the command of God enforce you to do what you can.

[3.] That you may manifest your desires after it. God doth not give Christ to many, because they do not care for him. If a man did care for a thing, he would endeavour after it. Excuses are always a sign of an unwilling heart. Where the desires are vehement, they will not easily be put by: Mat. xiii. 45, The merchant that ‘found a pearl of great price,’ ‘went and sold all that he might buy it.’ Those that desire not Christ, do not look upon him as a pearl of price; if they did, their hearts would follow hard after him. Those that say they have no power, it is to be feared they have no heart. It was the slothful person said, ‘There is a lion in the way,’ Prov. xxvi. 13. Therefore strive after faith, if for nothing else, yet to show that Christ is worth your most earnest seeking and pursuit after him.

[4.] Because though by the using of means we do not get faith, yet without the means we shall not have it. It is conditio sine qua non, though not causa fidei: Rom. x. 14, ‘How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?’ A man hath it not by hearing, nor for hearing, yet he hath it not without hearing. There is not merit nor efficacy in the means, and yet there must be the presence of them, because it holdeth negatively, if ye do not use the means ye shall never believe. The Spirit causeth faith, but it is by the word: see that text, Acts xiii. 46, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken unto you; but seeing ye have put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.’ Men that refuse the means, pass the sentence of condemnation upon themselves, they declare themselves to be those whom God will judge to be unworthy of eternal life—unworthy, because they would not seek after it. When the psalmist describeth desperate men, he represents them to be such as reject the means: Ps. lviii.4, 5, ‘They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear, which will not hearken to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely.’ The adder stoppeth one ear with her tail, and the other lieth close upon the ground. So wicked men, if they come to the ordinances, take care they shall not prevail upon them; they are not diligent to attend to the word.