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Seeing God’s Goodness Here by C. H. Spurgeon

January 16, 2010 by ADMIN

“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of thy Lord in the land of the living.” — Psalm 27:13

We were favored with very much of God’s goodness, last Sabbath evening, when we considered the rule of grace in guiding a believer’s life, namely, that, instead of seeing in order to believe, he has learned to believe in order to see.  “Unless I had believed to see,” says the psalmist, “I had fainted;” and we should never have known true refreshment nor enjoyed the comforts of the Lord, but should have been full of doubts, and distracted with fears, if we had not learned the sacred art of believing although we did not see, or even believing in spite of what we did see; or believing in order that we might see, fully expecting that sight, would inevitably follow if our faith were but simple and true.

Those of you who were present last sabbath evening will remember that I restricted my remarks, for the most part, to the one matter of our salvation.  I tried to show to seekers that, instead of looking for evidences of salvation first, and then believing in Christ, they were to believe in Christ in order to obtain those evidences — that, instead of looking to their repentance, and then having confidence in Christ, their repentance sprang from their confidence in Christ — that, instead of saying, “We are not fully sanctified, and therefore fear we are not saved; “they were to remember that the certainty of their being saved by grace, through faith, would be to their minds and hearts, the great motive power by which they would be enabled to obtain that sanctification which cannot be theirs as long as they remain in legal bondage, and have doubts about being “accepted in the Beloved.”  There were some set at liberty last Sabbath evening, who had really known the Lord for years, but were afraid to say definitely that they had trusted in Christ, and that, therefore, they were saved.  May God grant that all of us may not only come to Christ, but may we also exercise a simple, childlike faith, which just takes God’s Word as it stands in this blessed Book, believes it, receives it, lives upon it, asks no questions concerning it, and will allow none to be asked by others.

On this occasion, I propose to make a particular application of the general principle of our text.  David was a man of many troubles.  Especially in the latter part of his life, he was incessantly in the furnace, and he says that he should have “fainted” under these many troubles if he had not “behaved to see,” in the particular matter of his briars, “the goodness of the Lord” in that land which is the special sphere of trouble.  David believed to see the goodness of the Lord, not only in the glory land yonder, but also in this land here below.  He believed to see the goodness of the Lord, not merely when he emerged from the furnace, but also while he was in it.  As a pilgrim and a stranger, he believed to see the goodness of the Lord during the days of his pilgrimage.  He did not always see it, but he believed to see it; he believed in it and anticipated it; and, by believing in it, he did actually come to see it with the eye of his mind, and to rejoice in it.

We all know that this world is a very unpromising field for faith; according to our varied experiences, we must all subscribe to the declaration that this earth is, more or less, a vale of tears that it is not our rest, for it is polluted.  There are too many thorns in this nest for us to abide comfortably in it.  This world is under the curse, so it still bringeth forth thorns and thistles, and in the sweat of our face do we eat our bread until we return to the earth out of which man was at first taken.  Were this world really to be our home, it would be a terrible fate for us; if we were always to live in this huge penal settlement, it would be sad indeed for us to know that we had continually to dwell where the shadow of the curse ever lingers, and where we have only the shadow of the cross to sustain us under it.  But faith comes into this unpromising field, and believes that she shall see the goodness of the Lord even here.  It rushes into the fiercest fight that ever rages here, fully believing that it shall see the banner of the Lord’s mercy and truth waving even there.  It bears the burden and heat of the earthly toil and expects to experience the lovingkindness of the Lord beneath it all.  It knows that it will see more of its God in the land beyond the flood; but, still, it believes to see the goodness of the Lord even in this land of the living which is so distracted and disturbed with sorrows and cares, and trials and tribulations.

I want to show you, first, that faith is infallibly persuaded of God’s goodness here; secondly, that it expects clearly to see that goodness here, and, thirdly, that it is this expectation and belief which sustain the soul of the tried believer.

I. First, then, FAITH IS INFALLIBLY ASSURED OF THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD IN THIS TIME STATE.

It is persuaded of this from what it knows of God himself.  It could not believe that he could be otherwise than good.  It reads the promise recorded in his Word and it believes that they are all true and reliable.  It can detect nothing that is unkind or ungenerous in any of them; they are all couched in the softest, gentlest, and most consoling words.  The language used seems to have been selected on purpose to meet this case and to make the promise suitable and sweet to the sorrowing heart.

It feels sure that God could not be unkind.  With the psalmist, it cries, “Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart;” and though, like the psalmist, it may have, to write afterwards, “But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped;” yet it stands fast to the first declaration, “Truly God is good to Israel,” however much surrounding circumstances may seem to prove the contrary; it knows that, from the necessity of the divine nature, God must be good to his people both here and hereafter.

When faith turns to the Bible and reads the history of the Lord’s people, it sees that God has been good to them; and, knowing that he is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever,” it draws the cheering inference that he will also be good to today. Inasmuch as it can distinctly see that the trials and difficulties of the saints in the olden times always wrought their lasting good, it is convinced, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the current trials and troubles, overruled by the same loving Lord who cared for them, will work lasting good, and that God will bless now as he blessed his saints in the olden time.

Perhaps some of you have faith, but yet, possibly through want of thought, you have not exercised it upon this particular point.  If you are given to murmuring against God, you will often think thoughts which you would not like to hear or to see in spoken or written language.  If someone should say to you, “God has been very unkind to you; I am sure that you cannot see the goodness of God displayed in your life,” you would at once turn round upon such a slanderer and defend the character of your God from such an unjust accusation.  Although you often murmur against the Lord in your spirit, yet, if another person should say in words what you have felt in your heart, you would then see the wickedness of your murmuring and you would also see that, in the depths of your soul, there is a firm confidence in the goodness of God to you.  You need to stir up that holy fire and set it blazing, so that you may get comfort from its warmth; for it is true, and it must be true, that God is now good, and always good, and good to the highest possible degree of goodness to all his children in their worst calamities and their darkest seasons of sorrow.

But there are some conditions of life in which it is really a trial to faith to believe in the goodness of the Lord, as, for instance, that of long-continued, dire poverty. Some of God’s choicest saints are so poor that they not only lack luxuries, but they even lack the very necessaries of life.  As a rule, possibly without exception, God does give his people bread and water, but, sometimes, the bread is only a very small portion and the cup of water — a very tiny one.  I have known a child of God, who has said to me, “I have struggled hard against poverty: I have undertaken first this and then that, but, in every case, I have failed.  My little vessel has tried to enter the harbor of prosperity, but the cruel winds have always driven it back again into the rough sea of adversity.  If I had been a spendthrift; if I had been wasteful in the days of my prosperity, or if I had not used my substance for the cause of God, I could understand my non-success.  If God would again entrust me with ample means, I would cheerfully give to his cause, as I used to do, but, alas! I have not anything left after my daily needs are supplied.”  Unbelief asks, “can this be the goodness of the Lord?”  But Faith answers, “Yes, it is, and it must be; I should faint in this poverty, I should give up in despair if, under all my trials and hardships, I were not sure of the goodness of God to me.  If I were even starving to death, God should still have a good word out of my dying mouth.  Even if he should let me die of starvation, it must be right, and he must be good.”

There are others of God’s children, whose trials come from constant sickness; and some forms of illness are so trying that we are apt to ask ourselves why we should be subjected to them.  I talked, this morning, with an aged sister in Christ, who, years ago, met with an accident by which her head was so severely injured that, every alternate day, her pain is almost unbearable.  She can never go up to the house of God because the sound of the preacher’s voice or of the singing of the congregation would be more than she could endure.  When we talked together, gently and softly, concerning the things of God, she quoted to me Psalm 119:75: “I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.”  If anyone asks, “Can it be the goodness of the Lord thus to keep away one who really loves his house and prizes his ordinances and to send her such sore sickness?” — we must reply, “Yes, it must be right.  We cannot see how God’s goodness can thus be manifested, but we are to believe that it is.”

I may be addressing some others, who are subject to peculiarly trying infirmities, which unfit you for the work you love and the field of service where you have long been so happy and useful.  Well, dear friends, in such a case as that, you must believe to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living in thus making your life to be one of sickness and weariness and pain.

The same rule also applies to our bereavements. How mysterious are the dispositions of providence in this matter!  Many, whom we cannot afford to lose, are taken away from us; while others, who seem to do no good, continue to live.  Death appears to spare the hemlock and to cut down the oak and the cedar.  Where there is a man who only encumbers the ground, he is often allowed to remain; while others, who are like pillars of Christ’s Church, are taken away.  I know a little village, where there were but a few poor inhabitants, and one man of substance, whom I very greatly esteemed.  Towards the small salary of the pastor in that village, my friend contributed three-fourths, if not nine-tenths.  He was the mainstay of that little Christian community.  When I found him, last week, very ill with fever, and joined with other friends in earnest prayer that his life might to spared, it seemed to us absolutely essential to the welfare of that village church that he should be kept here at least a little longer.  But now that the Lord has taken him home to himself, what can we say?  We must not begin to cavil at what God has done, but say to him, We are sure that whatsoever thou doest is right; it cannot be wrong, it cannot be unkind; it must be the kindest thing that could have happened, the very thing which we should have wished to happen if we could have known what thou knowest, and if we could have formed our judgment upon the same principle as swayed thine infallible judgment.”

We sometimes fancy that we should like to make a slight alteration in some of the arrangements of divine providence.  We would not interfere with the great wheels that are ever revolving, but just here and there, where a small cog rather inconveniently touches our personal interests, we would like to have it so altered as to let us alone.  But, remorselessly, as we sometimes imagine, the great wheels grind on, our comforts are taken from us and our joy is destroyed.  What then?  Why, let us still say, “Lord, not our will, but thine be done;” and let us kiss the hand that wields the rod as much as the one that bestows choice gifts upon us.  It is far easier for me to say this than it is for yon poor widow to carry it out, easier for me to say it than it is for that weeping mother, who has seen all her children taken before her to the silent tomb.  But, my sisters, my brothers, if it is harder for you, then so much the more earnestly would I urge you to say it; for the very difficulty of the submission, when you have rendered it, would prove the sincerity of your confidence in your God and bring the more glory to him.

So, as we take our friends and relatives to the tomb and commit the precious dust to the earth, let us still believe to see the goodness of the Lord even there.  If we do not look at our sorrows in that light, we shall faint under our repeated losses and bereavements; but if that be the light in which we view them, we shall see a glory gilding even the graves that cover the bodies of our departed loved ones and shall rejoice in the full assurance of the goodness of the Lord to us and even more to those who have gone to be “forever with the Lord.”

Another matter may, perhaps, have greatly troubled some of you, namely, your unanswered prayers.  You have been praying for certain people for a long time; but, so far, you have received no answer to your supplications.  There is a brother here, who has prayed for years for the conversion of his wife; yet she is still unconverted.  If he yields to unbelief, he will have many difficult questions to answer.  God has said, “Ask, and ye shall receive; you have asked for a thing which, apparently, is for God’s glory, yet you have not received it; and this will sometimes be a staggering blow to the earnest pleader.  Some of you have prayed, as I have done, for the life of a friend, or you have sought some other favor from the hands of God, but he has not granted it.  I believe there is a brother here, who has carried an unanswered prayer about with him for ten or a dozen years.  I have known cases of believers praying for thirty years, and yet not obtaining what they asked for; and some of them, like the worthies of old, have “died in faith, not having received the promises.”  They have not lived to see one of their children converted, yet their children have been converted, and saved through their prayers too, long after the parents slept in their graves.

In the cases of unanswered prayers, there is always the temptation to believe that God has not been faithful to his promises, that this bitter draught of unbelief is an addition to the sorrow which you feel at your non-success at the mercy seat.  This is the time when you will faint unless you believe to see the goodness of the Lord even now and here.  You must feel that, in any case, God’s will must be done.  You must still continue to pray, for you do not know what God’s will is; but you must pray with resignation, after your Savior’s perfect, model in the garden of Gethsemane, “Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”  You will be comforted and helped if you can look upon your unanswered prayers in that light.

And, dear brethren, there is another thing that will sometimes press upon you very heavily, namely, the desertions which occasionally fall to the lot of the believer as to his communion with God. Sometimes, we are left in the dark.  Whether you are or not, I know that I have been where I could not see sun, or moon, or stars, or even get so much as a look from my Master to cheer my sad heart or a word from his mouth to make glad my spirit.  At such times, we must remember that ancient message, “Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.”  If you cannot see, you must, believe to see; and if your heart feels like a stone, still believe that Christ is your life; and if, instead of holy meditations, your soul is racked with blasphemous temptations and evil thoughts, still hold on to Jesus, sink or swim.  If, instead of clear evidences of salvation, you are half afraid that the Lord has forsaken you and given you up, and you fall into an unbelieving frame of mind, go again to the fountain filled with blood, that this sin, like all others, may be washed away.  Trust Christ all the more “when the enemy shall come in like a flood;” for, then, “the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.”  Those must be strange Christians who never have any conflict raging within their souls.  If that is true Christian experience, I wish I could get it; — to be always at peace and at rest and never again have to wrestle with sins and doubts and fears.  But, beloved, if we cannot attain to that position — and I believe that the most of us cannot — let us still walk by faith; for, so, we shall walk triumphantly even under the discouragements of our inward spiritual conflicts.

One other point I must mention, and then I will leave this part of the subject.  To many believers, the sharpest trials they ever have to endure arise from troubles connected with the Church of Christ. What a grief it is to the godly when any portion of the Church of Christ does not prosper — when bickerings arise among the members, when one brother or sister is jealous of another and when all our attempts to mend the rent only make it worse.  It must be very trying for some of you to have to go on the Lord’s day to listen to a minister who does not edify you, but rather provokes you to wrath; or to attend church-meetings, as I know that some do, and find them anything but a means of grace; or to have to meet with professors [of faith] who, in their common conduct and conversation, instead of leading you onward and upward, do you as much mischief as if they were men of the world.  It is sad to see even one of God’s ministers sound asleep, and to see other professing Christians careless and worldly, and to see the whole ship of the Church like the vessel described by the Ancient Mariner —

“As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean;”

when there was no motion, no advance; when —

“The very deep did rot.”

It is a dreadful thing when there is such a horrid deathlike calm as this; yet, even amidst such trials as these, we must believe to see the goodness of the Lord.  We must still believe that the great Head of the Church has not forgotten her, that in her darkest times he still wears her name upon his heart, and that he will yet return to her in mercy, cast out all her enemies, repair her broken walls, and cause the banner of his love to float again over her citadel.

II. Now, secondly, and very briefly, FAITH NOT ONLY BELIEVES IN THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD, BUT SHE EXPECTS TO SEE IT EVEN HERE.

Sometimes, she sees it very soon. God does not guarantee to let his people see here the reason for all his providential dealings with them, but he does occasionally do so.  There is many a believer who has lived to see the goodness of God to him.  Bernard Gilpin’s case was a very clear one.  As he was on his way to London to be burned at the stake, his leg was broken and he had to stop on the road.  He said it was all for the best, and so it was; for, when he reached London, the bells were ringing, for Queen Mary was dead, and Queen Elizabeth had come to the throne, so he was not burned – the breaking of his leg had saved his life!  Some of us have also seen the goodness of the Lord displayed under very strange circumstances.  It was so in connection with that terrible calamity at the Surrey Gardens Music Hall.  Notwithstanding all the sorrow and suffering that it brought upon us, as we now look back upon it, we see how God, by means of that calamity, called public attention to the preaching of the Word; and I have no doubt that, for every life that was then lost, a thousand souls have since been saved from going down to the pit, so let God’s name be praised for that gracious overruling of a terrible crime.  You may not have to wait even a day before you will distinctly see the goodness of the Lord; but you must believe it before you see it.  It must be a matter of duty to you now to believe it; and then, by-and-by, it may be a matter of privilege to you to see it.

But faith does not always expect to see the goodness of God here at once. It knows that this is the land of mist and fog and is glad if it can see even one step ahead.  Ay, and faith is quite satisfied to go on even if it cannot see a step ahead.  It puts its foot down on what seems to be a thick cloud, but finds the ground solid beneath.  Without seeing where it is going, faith takes the next step, relying upon the faithfulness of God, and again it is safe; and so faith pursues its way in the thick darkness and with greater joy than those who see far ahead and compliment themselves upon their shrewdness.  Faith knows that the day has not yet dawned, for the shadows have not yet fled away, so, while in this mortal state, it walks by faith, not by sight.

Faith understands, too, that man is not endowed with that degree of judgment which might enable him, at present, even if the light were clearer, to see the goodness of the Lord distinctly. With such an intellect as he now has, a child is not likely to see the wisdom of his father in the use of the rod.  Even if he is a well-instructed child, he may still scarcely be able to see it.  The father is the better judge; he has seen more of life, he knows what the child does not know and foresees what the child does not even dream of.  How can I, who can only see a little pool in front of me, judge as to how the Lord should manage the great ocean?  Here am I sailing my tiny toy-boat upon a pond; and am I to lay down rules of navigation for God in steering the leviathans of the deep across the shoreless seas?  Here am I, an emmet of an hour, creeping about upon the little ant-hill which I call my home; and am I to judge as to how God manages all the affairs of time and eternity?  Down, thou foolish pride; what knowest thou?  Thou art wise only when thou knowest that thou art a fool; but thou art such a fool that thou dost not know even that until God teaches it to thee.  Lie down, then, and trust where thou canst not understand.

Faith also knows that, at present, the whole plan and procedure of God’s providential dealings with men cannot be seen.  We cannot fairly judge the working of providence by gazing at a part of it.  There is an old joke about a student who took one brick to the market in order to show the people what kind of house he had to sell; but who could rightly judge of a house by looking at a single brick?  Yet this would be less foolish than trying to judge as to the goodness of the Lord by the transactions of an hour.  If, instead of trying to measure, with a foot-rule, the distance between Sirius and the Pleiades, we would just believe that God has measured that vast distance to an inch and leave such measurements to the almighty mind which can take in the whole universe at one sweep, how much wiser it would be on our part!  God sees the end from the beginning; and when the great drama of time shall be complete, then will the splendor as well as the goodness of the Lord be seen.  When the whole painting shall be unrolled in one vast panorama, then shall we see its matchless beauty and appreciate the inimitable skill of the Divine Artist.  But, here, we only look at one little patch of shade or one tiny touch of color, and it appears to us to be rough or coarse.  It may be that we shall be permitted, in eternity, to see the whole of the picture; and, meanwhile, let us firmly believe that he who is painting it knows how to do it, and that he, who orders all things according to the counsel of his own will, cannot fail to do that which is best for the creatures whom he hath made and preserved in being.

III. So, finally, THERE IS A WONDERFULLY SUSTAINING INFLUENCE ABOUT THIS PRACTICAL BELIEF IN THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD.

There is a man lying upon the surgeon’s operating table and the skillful surgeon has to cut deeply; why does the man endure that operation?  Because he believes it is for his lasting good. He believes that the surgeon will not cause him an atom of pain more than is necessary, and therefore he lies quietly and endures it all.  But imagine that any of us were there, and that we fancied that the operator meant to do us has instead of good.  Then we should rebel; but the conviction that it is all right helps us “to play the man” and to bear the pain with patience.  That should be your attitude towards God, my dear friend.  May your belief in his goodness enable you to bear the sharp cuts of the knife which he is using upon you!  He must have been a bold man who was the first to plough the ground, all to bury bushels of good, golden wheat in the earth; but, nowadays, our farmers do it as a matter of course.  They go to the granary, take out that which is very valuable, go off to where they have made the death-trench ready to receive it and cast it in there, knowing that, unless it is cast in there to die, it will not bring forth fruit.  But they believe to see the fruit that will spring from it; every farmer, when he sows his wheat, has the golden sheaves before his mind’s eye, and the shouts of the harvest home ring in anticipation in his ear; and, therefore, he parts with his treasured store of wheat, and parts with it cheerfully.  So, dear friends, let us part with our friends, and part with our health, and part with our comforts, and part with life itself if that is necessary, believing that “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

Let me just add that, if there is such sustaining power about believing to see the goodness of the Lord even here, what must result from the still higher belief of seeing the goodness of the Lord in another and better world than this? The expectation of that bliss may well bear us up on its wings far above all the trials and troubles of this present life; so let us entreat the Holy Spirit to administer to us this heavenly cordial.  Then, in the strength of the Lord, let us go forth to serve him, with body, soul, and spirit, to the highest degree that is possible to us.

If there are any of you who have never believed, let, me just tell you what is needful ere I close my discourse.  The way of salvation is this, — Believe God’s Word; believe that your Maker cannot lie; trust his Son, whom he has given to be the Savior of all who trust him; and rely upon what his Word has declared: “he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.”  If thou trustest in Christ, even if thou hast not a fraction of other evidence of thy salvation, thou art a saved soul on that evidence alone.  Cast thyself upon him and thou shalt find that declaration to be true to thee, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.”  But if thou believes not, remember that this declaration is equally true, “he that, believeth not the Son shall not see life; but, the wrath of God abideth on him.”  May God save all of you from that awful doom, for his dear Son’s sake!  Amen.

Posted in C. H. Spurgeon |

Discovering the True Sense of Scripture by Thomas Boston

January 16, 2010 by ADMIN

The sense of the scripture is but one, and not many.  There may be several parts of that one sense subordinate one to another; as some prophecies have a respect to the deliverance from Babylon, the spiritual by Christ, and the eternal in heaven; and some passages have one thing that is typical of another: yet these are but one full sense, only that may be of two sorts; one is simple, and another compound.

Some scriptures have only a simple sense, containing a declaration of one thing only; and that is either proper or figurative.  A proper sense is that which arises from the words taken properly, and the figurative from the words taken figuratively.  Some have a simple proper sense, as, ‘God is a Spirit,’ ‘God created the heavens and the earth;’ which are to be understood according to the propriety of the words.  Some have a simple figurative sense, as, ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away,’ and etc.  These have but one simple sense; but then it is the figurative, and is not to be understood according to the literal meaning of the words, as if Christ were a tree, and etc.  Thus you see what the simple sense is.

The compound or mixed sense is found wherein one thing is held forth as a type of the other; and so it consists of two parts, the one respecting the type, the other the antitype; which are not two senses, but two parts of that one and entire sense intended by the Holy Ghost: e.g. Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, that those who were stung by the fiery serpents might look to it and be healed.  The full sense of which is, ‘As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, that, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.’  Here is a literal and mystical sense, which make up one full sense betwixt them.  Those scriptures that have this compound sense, are sometimes fulfilled properly (or literally, as it is taken in opposition to figuratively) in the type and antitype both; as Hos. 11:1, ‘I have called my Son out of Egypt,’ which was literally true both of Israel and Christ. Sometimes figuratively in the type, and properly in the antitype, as Psa. 69:21, ‘They gave me vinegar to drink.’  Sometimes properly in the type, and figuratively in the antitype, as Psa. 2:9, ‘Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron.’  Compare 2 Sam. 12:31.  Sometimes figuratively in both, as Psa. 41:9, ‘Yea, mine own familiar friend hath lifted up his heel against me; which is meant of Ahithophel and Judas.  Now the sense of the scripture must be but one, and not manifold, that is, quite different and nowise subordinate one to another, because of the unity of truth, and because of the perspicuity of the scripture.

Where there is a question about the true sense of scripture, it must be found out what it is by searching other places that speak more clearly, the scripture itself being the infallible rule of interpreting of scripture.  Now that it is so, appears from the following arguments.

(1) The Holy Spirit gives this as a rule, 2 Pet. 1:20, 21.  After the apostle had called the Christians to take heed to the scripture, he gives them this rule for understanding it, ‘Knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation of our own exposition.  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’  As it came, so is it to be expounded: but it came not by the will of man; therefore we are not to rest on men for the sense of it, but holy men speaking as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and so never erring; therefore we are to look to the dictates of the same Spirit in other places.

(2) There are several approved examples of this, comparing one scripture with another, to find out the meaning of the Holy Ghost, as Acts 15:15.  And to this agree the words of the prophet,’ and etc.  The Bereans are commended for this in Acts 17:11.  Yea, Christ himself makes use of this to show the true sense of the scripture against the devil, Matt. 4:6, ‘Cast thyself down,’ said that wicked spirit; ‘for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee,’  ‘It is written again,’ says Christ, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’  And thus our Lord makes out the true sense of that scripture, that it is to be understood only with respect to them who do not cast themselves on a tempting of God.

According to the Westminster Confession of Faith (chapter 1.9), “The infallible rule of interpretation of scripture is the scripture itself; and, therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any scripture which is not manifold but one, it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly (2 Pet. 1:20, 21; Acts 15:16).

Posted in Thomas Boston |

Theme Study: The Goodness of God by Jim Ehrhard

January 16, 2010 by ADMIN

Preface to the Study

The Goodness of God is a vital doctrine for believers to meditate upon.  Our times of depression and discouragement can all be traced to our failure to remember the goodness of God toward us.  In times of trials, we are all tempted to cry out to God and question His love for us.  “If you love me, Lord, why did you let this happen?” is frequently the cry of believers under duress.  But a remembrance of the goodness of God toward us would serve to dispel any doubts about God’s goodness, even in allowing the present trial we face.

Likewise, our failure to resist temptation can likewise be traced to thinking that God is not being “good” to us.  Consider Satan’s temptation of Eve in the Garden; especially when Adam and Eve have forgotten that God gave them to eat of all the trees freely, except one!  Had they considered God’s goodness, they might not have so easily succumbed to Satan’s temptation.

Finally, our inadequate praise for God is often traceable to our failure to think upon all that the Lord has done for us and given to us.  Even our evangelism often lacks a presentation of the goodness of God as that which leads me to repentance, as the Apostle Paul notes in Romans 2:5.  Let us meditate often upon His goodness that we may be full of love and trust in Him who displays His goodness toward us in so many ways!

The articles in this issue have been chosen as an encouragement to you in many areas.  In reflecting upon the death of my own wife, I have been drawn continually back to think upon God’s great goodness to me, even in granting me the great joy of having such a wonderful spouse for all these years.  If I could not see the goodness of God in the land of the living, then my grief would be much more difficult to deal with.  But God has given us twin pillars of comfort for such times of grief: the certain hope of the resurrection where we will be united once again, and the constant evidence of His goodness now, in the land of the living.  So our grief is moderated and even turned to joy by these two great truths.

May you too be blessed by these reminders of the goodness of God toward you!

By His Grace, Jim

Posted in Jim Ehrhard |

The Sword of the Spirit by Jim Ehrhard

January 16, 2010 by ADMIN

Of all the weapons mentioned in Ephesians 6, only one is offensive; the rest are defensive.  As such, it is the one weapon that we dare not be without in spiritual warfare. When Christian met Apollyon in the Valley of Humiliation (in Pilgrim’s Progress), he was able to do battle with the dragon until he lost his sword.  As Apollyon stood over him ready to destroy him, a passage of Scripture came to Christian’s mind.  As he quoted the verse, the sword leapt into his hand and he dealt the dragon a mortal blow.

Martin Luther also experienced the awesome power of the Word of God in spiritual warfare.  Tradition has it that Luther once threw an inkwell at an apparition of the devil that had appeared to him.  Actually, such a story may be apocryphal. Luther does state, “I fought the devil with my inkwell,” but he most likely referred to his translation of the New Testament into German as the means through which he fought Satan.  He understood that “though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God has willed, His truth to triumph through us … one little Word shall fell him.”

God’s Word is given to us as a sword with which we can be victorious in spiritual battle.

Why is it called the Sword of the Spirit by the apostle?

It is called the Sword of the Spirit because it is a weapon of divine origin. 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:20-21 remind us that the Bible is God’s Word not man’s.  The words we have contained in it are not the composition of men’s efforts.  They come with the authority of God.  This is why the apostle Paul reminds believers in 2 Corinthians 10 that “our weapons are not carnal.”  They are of divine origin; it is God’s Word.

It is called the Sword of the Spirit because it is a weapon of divine choice. In other words, the Bible is “regulation issue” for every believer.  We are not left to our choice to determine what weapons we are to use.  God has determined that the Bible only shall be the basis for our authority.

Finally, it is called the Sword of the Spirit because it is a weapon of divine power. Paul states that he is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because “it is the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16).  Peter reminds us that we have been born again through the Word of God (1 Peter 2:23-25).  “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).  The Word even has power to change and transform the lives of believers (see 1 Thessalonians 2:13 and Romans 12:1-2).  Everything in the Scripture tells us that the Word of God has power, because its power is of divine origin.

Why is the Word compared to a Sword?

It is compared to a sword for many reasons.  A sword in the ancient world was not only a weapon for battle; it was also a symbol of authority.  This is why defeated generals would give their swords to the victors as a symbol of relinquishing their authority to another.  As such, the Bible is clearly our authority.  It is one we must never relinquish in battle.

But most of all, the sword was a symbol of power.  As such, the Word of God is a sword which has the power to do many things.  First, it has the power to wound the heart. We see this most of all in terms of salvation when one previously disinterested in spiritual things hears the Word and is cut to the heart by it.  This happened on the day of Pentecost when the people heard Peter preaching and “were cut to the heart and cried out, ‘What shall we do?’“

Second, it has the power to penetrate the heart.  The Bible speaks of the unconverted as having a heart of stone and hardened, but it speaks of the Word as able to cut through any hardness.  We see this in Acts 16:14.  As Paul preached the Word to Lydia and the others, God used the Word to “open her heart” and she was converted. Hebrews 4:12 makes this aspect of the Word clear when it describes the Word as “living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of the soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow.”

Third, it has the power to heal the heart. The amazing thing about this sword is that it both cuts and heals. It both convicts and comforts.  Thus God says of His Word through the prophet Isaiah, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).  God’s Word is a sword because it is powerful—wounding, penetrating, and healing the human heart.

Why is this weapon so important?

Because without it, you are not fully equipped. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that all Scripture is inspired by God and useful … “that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped and fitted for every good work.”

Because without it, you cannot withstand for long. The major emphasis of Ephesians 6 and spiritual warfare is that the believer must stand and withstand the attacks of the enemy.  This is why the majority of the weapons listed are defensive.  The victory is our as we stand firm in spiritual warfare.  The boxer who only blocks punches will not stand for long!  The Word has been given to us to use against the enemy and our offensive thrusts with the Word cause the attacker to flee.

Because without it, you cannot win the battle.  With the other weapons, you may be able to stave off defeat, but without the sword you cannot have victory.  Without the sword, how will you “tear down strongholds?”  Shields and helmets are excellent for defense, but useless for tearing down strongholds.  Without the sword, we will not prevail against “the gates of hell” (Matthew 16:18).

How should we “take the Sword of the Spirit?”

Be thankful for it.  The Psalmists frequently express praise and thanksgiving for the treasure of the Word of God.  They spoke of it as more precious than gold and more desirable than the sweetest honeycomb.

Study it regularly. The Sword was not given to us as an emblem to hang on the wall or display on the coffee table.  It is given to be used in spiritual battle.  As such it must not grow rusty from disuse, but the study of the Word should be our regular practice (2 Timothy 2:15).

Hide it in your heart. Christian’s victory over Apollyon came because he had the Word hidden in his heart. Jesus used the memorized Word to defeat Satan in the temptation in the wilderness.  Psalm 119:9, 11 reminds us that our protection from temptation comes as we “hide” the Word in our hearts.

Obey it always.  James 1:22-25 reminds us that the Word heard does not benefit us unless it becomes the Word applied to our lives.

What a treasure God has given us in His Word!  It strengthens, it protects, it comforts, and it heals.  It provides guidance in life and victory over temptation.  No wonder the psalmist proclaimed: “Oh how I love your law!  It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).

Posted in Jim Ehrhard |

Christ Exalted Above Evil by Jonathan Edwards

January 16, 2010 by ADMIN

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.  The last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death –1 Corinthians 15:25-26

The apostle in this chapter particularly opposes some among the Christian Corinthians who denied the resurrection of the dead and infested the church with their doctrine.  There were two sorts of persons in that age who were especially great opposers of the doctrine of the resurrection: one among the Jews, and the other among the heathen. Among the Jews there the Sadducees of whom we read in Acts 23:8.  Among the heathen, that were the chief opposers of this doctrine were the philosophers.  The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead was not consistent with their philosophy which taught that it was impossible that one who was deprived of life should ever receive it again.  And therefore they ridiculed the doctrine when the apostle preached it among them at Athens.  Probably the church at Corinth received this corruption from the philosophers and not the Sadducees.  For Corinth was near to Athens, the place of the chief resort of the philosophers of Greece.

In opposing this error, the apostle first insists on Christ’s resurrection from the dead and next on the resurrection of all the saints at the end of the world.  And in the verses next before the text he shows how both are connected or how one arises or follows from the other.  And then he adds, “then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power.  For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” — Observe,

1. That Christ will be exalted over all his enemies. This is one aspect of the glory of his exaltation and dominion that Christ as our redeemer has – that it issues in the subjection of all enemies under his feet.  Their being under his feet denotes their being perfectly subdued and his being gloriously exalted over them.  It shall be thus with respect to God’s and his people’s enemies universally, not one excepted.  This universality is signified here two ways, all enemies — and the very lost enemy: when there shall be but one enemy left (death) that shall also be put under his feet.

2. That all kinds of enemies are defeated in his resurrection. We may learn what is here meant by enemies by the particular instance here given as the last that shall be destroyed, viz. death.  This shows that enemies does not mean persons only, but all that set themselves in opposition to God and his people, including all evils, whatever is against God and his people and opposes Christ or his saints, whether they be persons or things.

SECTION 1

How evil of all kinds has prevailed and highly exalted itself in the world.

Evil of all kinds has risen to an exceeding height in the world and highly exalted itself against God, and Christ, and the church. — This will appear by the following particulars.

1. Satan has highly exalted himself and greatly prevailed. He is vastly superior in his natural capacity and abilities to mankind.  He was originally one of the highest rank of creatures; but he proudly exalted himself in rebellion against God in heaven.  We are told that pride was the condemnation of the devil.  He became proud of his own superior dignity and mighty abilities and the glory which his Creator had put upon him and probably thought it too much to submit to the Son of God and attempted to exalt his throne above him.  And he prevailed to draw away vast multitudes of the heavenly hosts into an open rebellion against God.  And after he was cast down from heaven, he proudly exalted himself in this world and prevailed to do great things.  By his subtle temptations he procured the fall of our first parents and so brought about the ruin of their whole race.  He procured their ruin in body and soul and in the death of both; and that they should be exposed to all manner of calamity in this world and to eternal ruin hereafter.  He so far prevailed, that he drew men off from the service of their Maker and set up himself to be the god of this world.  And in a little time, he drew the world into that almost universal corruption which brought on the flood by which the world was destroyed.  And after that, he drew off all nations, except the posterity of Jacob, from the worship of the true God and darkened all the world with heathenism and held them under this darkness for a great many ages.  Being as worshipful as God almost all over the world, the nations of the earth offered sacrifices to him and multitudes even offered up their children.

And during that time, he often so far prevailed against the people of God that he had almost swallowed them up.  The church was often brought to the very brink of ruin.  And when Christ himself appeared in the world, how did he exalt himself against him and prevailed so far as to influence men to hate and despise him all the days of his life.  And at last, he persuaded one of his own disciples to betray him.  Accordingly, he was delivered into the hands of men to be mocked, buffeted, spit upon, and treated with the greatest ignominy that unrestrained malice could devise; and at last procured that he should be put to the most cruel and ignominious kind of death.  And since then, he has greatly exalted himself against the gospel and kingdom of Christ.  He has procured that the church, for the most part, has been the subject of great persecution; has often brought it to the brink of utter destruction; has accomplished great works in setting up those great kingdoms of antichrist and Mohamed and darkened great part of the world that was once enlightened with the gospel of Christ with worse than heathen darkness.  And he has infected the Christian world with multitudes of heresies and false ways of worship and greatly promoted atheism and infidelity.  Thus highly has the devil exalted himself against God and Christ, and the elect; and so far he prevailed.

2. Guilt is another evil which has come to a great height in the world.  All guilt is an evil of a dreadful nature: the least degree of it is enough utterly to undo any creature.  It is a thing that reaches unto heaven and cries to God and brings down his wrath.  The guilt of any one sin is so terrible an evil that it prevails to bind over the guilty person to suffer everlasting burnings.  So is in some respect infinite, in that it obliges us to that punishment which has no end and so is infinitely terrible.  But this kind of evil has risen to a most amazing height in this world where not only some persons are guilty, but all, in all nations and ages.  And they who live to act any time in the world are not only guilty of one sin, but of thousands and thousands of thousands.  What multiplied and what aggravated sins are some men guilty of!  What guilt lies on some particular persons!  How much more on some particular populous cities!  How much more still on this wicked world!  How much does the guilt of the world transcend all account, all expression, all powers of numbers or measures!  And above all, how vast is the guilt of the world in all ages, from the beginning to the end of it!  To what a pitch has guilt risen!  The world being, as it were, on every side, loaded with it, as with mountains heaped on mountains, above the clouds and stars of heaven.

And guilt, when it was imputed to Christ, greatly prevailed against him — though in himself innocent and the eternal Son of God — even so as to hold him prisoner of justice for a while, and to open the flood-gates of God’s wrath upon him.

3. Corruption and wickedness of heart is another thing that has risen to an exceeding height in the world. Sin has so far prevailed that it has become universal: all men are become sinful and corrupt creatures.  Let us attend to St Paul’s description of the worlds “Jews and Gentiles are all under sin.  “As is written, There is none righteous, no not one, there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no not one.”  And not only is every one corrupt, but they are all over corrupt, in every power, faculty, and principle, every part is depraved.  This is here (in Romans 3:10-18) represented by the several parts of the body being corrupt, as the throat, the tongue, the lips, the mouth, the feet: “Their throat is an open sepulcher, with their tongues they have used deceit, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood.”  And not only is every part corrupt, but exceeding corrupt, being possessed with dreadful principles of corruption, horribly evil dispositions and principles of sin, that may be represented by the poison of asps: which makes men like vipers and devils: principles of all uncleanness, pride, deceit, injustice, enmity, malice, blasphemy, murder.  Here their throats are compared to an open sepulcher and their mouth is said to be full of cursing and bitterness and destruction and misery are said to be in their ways.

And there are those principles of sin not only that are very bad, but every kind, here is no sort of wickedness but there is a seed of it in men.  And these seeds and Principles have not only a being in men’s hearts, but they are there in great strength: they have the absolute possession and dominion over men so that they are sold under sin.  Yea, wicked principles, and those only, are in the heart.  The imagination of the thoughts of their heart is evil only.  There are bad principles only, and no good ones.  “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”  Thus the hearts of all men are deceitful and desperately wicked.  And if we look, not only at the natural corruption of the heart, but at the contracted habits of sin, by wicked education and customs, how full shall we find the world of wickedness, in this respect!  How have men, by bad customs in sinning, broken down all restraints upon natural corruption and as it were abandoned themselves to wickedness!  So far has corruption and wickedness prevailed in the world, and so high has it risen, that it is become a great and universal deluge that overtops all things and prevails with that strength, that it is like the raging waves of the tempestuous ocean; which are ready to bear down all before them.

4. Many of the devil’s instruments have greatly prevailed and have been exalted to an exceeding height in the in the world.  It has been so in almost all ages of the world.  Many of the devil’s instruments have prospered and prevailed till they have got to the head of great kingdoms and empires, with vast riches and mighty power.  Those four great heathen monarchies that rose in the world before Christ are spoken of in Scripture as kingdoms set up in opposition to the kingdom of Christ.  So they are represented in the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.  These monarchies were exceeding powerful.  The two last ruled over the greater part of the then known world.  And the last especially, viz. the Roman Empire, was exceeding mighty: so that it is said to be diverse from all kingdoms, and that it should devour the whole earth, and tread it down, and break it in pieces.  It is represented by the fourth beast which was dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly and had great iron teeth that devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the residue with his feet.  These four kingdoms all persecuted the church of God in their turns, especially the last.  One of the governors of this monarchy put Christ to death.  And afterwards one emperor after another made dreadful havoc of the church making a business of it with the force of all the empire to torment and destroy the Christians, endeavoring, if possible, to root out the Christian name from under heaven.

And in these latter ages, how those two great instruments of the devil, viz. antichrist and Mahomet have prevailed and to what a pitch of advancement have they arrived; ruling over vast empires, with mighty wealth, pride and power: so that the earth has been, as it were, subdued by them.  Antichrist has set up himself as the vicar of Christ and has for many ages usurped the power of God, “sitting in the temple of God, and showing himself that he is God; and exalting himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.”  And how dreadfully has he ravaged the church of God, being drunk with the blood of the saints and the martyrs of Jesus.  And has often, as it were, deluged the world in Christian blood, shed with the utmost cruelty that human wit and malice could invent. — And at this day, many other instruments of the devil, many heretics, atheists, and other infidels, are exerting themselves against Christ and his church with great pride and contempt.

5. Affliction and misery have also prevailed and risen to an unspeakable height in the world. The spiritual misery which the elect are naturally in is great.  They are miserable captives of sin and Satan and under obligations to suffer eternal burnings.  This misery all mankind are naturally in.  And spiritual troubles and sorrows have often risen to a great height in the elect.  The troubles of a wounded spirit and guilty conscience have been felt with intolerable end insupportable weight.  And the darkness that has risen to God’s people after conversion, through the temptations and buffetings of the devil and the hidings of God’s face and manifestations of his anger, has been very terrible.   And temporal afflictions have often risen exceeding high.  The church of God has, for the most part, all along, been a seat of great affliction and tribulation.

But the height to which the evil of affliction has risen nowhere appears so much as in the afflictions that Christ suffered.  The evil of affliction and sorrow exalted itself so high as to seize the Son of God himself and to cause him to be all in a bloody sweat and to make his soul exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.  It caused him to cry out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!”  Affliction never prevailed to such a degree in this world, as in Christ, whose soul was, as it were, overwhelmed in an ocean of it.

6. Death is an evil which has greatly prevailed and made dreadful havoc in this world. How does it waste and devour mankind, one age after another, sparing none, high or low, rich or poor, good or bad!  Wild beasts have destroyed many; many cruel princes have taken away the lives of thousands and laid waste whole countries: but death devours all.  None are suffered to escape.  And the bodies of the saints, as well as others, fall prey to this great devourer.  Yea, so high did this enemy rise that he took hold on Christ himself and swallowed him among the rest.  He became the prey of this great, insatiable monster.  By this means, his bodily frame was destroyed and laid dead in the dark and silent grave.  And death still goes on destroying thousands every day.  And therefore the grave is one of those things which Agur says, never has enough. — So have evils of every kind prevailed and to such a degree have they exalted themselves in the world.

SECTION 2

How Jesus Christ, in the work of redemption, appears gloriously above all these evil.

It was not the will of the infinitely wise and holy Governor of the world that things should remain in this confusion.  But he had a design for subduing it and delivering an elect part of the world from it and exalting them to the possession of the greatest good to reign in the highest glory, out of a state of subjection to all these evils.  And he chose his Son as the person most fit for an undertaking that was infinitely too great for any mere creature: and he has undertaken the work of our redemption.

And though these evils are so many and so great and have prevailed to such a degree and risen to such a height and have been, as it were, all combined together; yet wherein they have exalted themselves, Christ, in the work of redemption, appears above them.  He hath gloriously prevailed against them all and brings them under his feet and rides forth in the chariots of salvation over their heads or leading them in triumph at his chariot wheels.  He appears in this work infinitely higher and mightier than they and sufficient to carry his people above them and utterly to destroy them all.

1. Christ appears gloriously above all evil in what he did to procure redemption for us in his state of humiliation, by the righteousness he wrought out and the atonement he made for sin.  The evils mentioned never seemed so much to prevail against him as in his sufferings: but in them, the foundation was laid for their overthrow.  In them, he appeared above Satan.  Though Satan never exalted himself so high as he did in procuring these sufferings of Christ; yet, then, Christ laid the foundation for the utter overthrow of his kingdom.  He slew Satan, as it were, with his own weapon, the spiritual David cut off this Goliath’s head with his own sword; and he triumphed over him in his cross.  “Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”  There the wisdom of Christ appeared gloriously above the subtlety of Satan.

Satan, that old serpent, used a great deal of subtlety to procure Christ’s death, and doubtless, when he had accomplished it, thought he had obtained a complete victory, being then ignorant of the contrivance of our redemption.  But the wisdom of Christ did so order things that Satan’s subtlety and malice should be made the very means of undermining the foundations of his kingdom.  And so he wisely led him into the pit that he had digged.

In this also, Christ appeared gloriously above the guilt of men.  For he offered a sacrifice, that was sufficient to do away all the guilt of the whole world.  Though the guilt of man was like the great mountains, whose heads are lifted up to the heavens, yet his dying love and his merits, appeared as a mighty deluge that overflowed the highest mountains, or like a boundless ocean that swallows them up; or like an immense fountain of light, that with the fullness and redundancy of its brightness swallows up men’s greatest sins, as little motes are swallowed up and hidden in the disk of the sun.

In this, Christ appeared above all the corruption of man because he purchased holiness for the chief of sinners.  And in undergoing such extreme afflicting, Christ got the victory over all misery and laid a foundation for its being utterly abolished with respect to his elect.  In dying, he became the plague and destruction of death.  When death slew him, it slew itself: for Christ, through death, destroyed him that had the power of death, even the devil.  By this, he laid the foundation of the glorious resurrection of all his people to an immortal life.

2. Christ appears gloriously exalted above all evil in his resurrection and ascension into heaven. When Christ rose from the dead, then it appeared that he was above death, which, though it had taken him captive, could not hold him.  Then he appeared above the devil.  Then this Leviathan that had swallowed him was forced to vomit him up again; as the Philistines that had taken captive the ark were forced to return it, Dagon being fallen before it, with his head and hands broken off, and only the stumps left. — Then he appeared above our guilt: for he was justified in his resurrection.  In his resurrection, he appeared above all affliction.  For though he had been subject to much affliction and overwhelmed in it, he then emerged out of it as having gotten the victory, never to conflict with any more sorrow.   When he ascended up into heaven, he rose far above the reach of the devil and all his instruments, who had before had him in their hands.  And now he has sat down at the right hand of God as being made head over all things to the church, in order to a complete and perfect victory over sin, Satan, death, and all his enemies.  It was then said to him, “Sit thou on my right hand, until I make shine enemies thy footstool.”  He entered into a state of glory wherein he is exalted far above all these evils, as the forerunner of his people; and to make intercession for them, till they also are brought to be with him, in like manner exalted above all evil.

3. Christ appears gloriously above all evil in his work in the hearts of the elect in their conversion and sanctification. This is what the application of redemption consists of in this world.  In this work of Christ in the hearts of his elect, he appears glorious above Satan.  For the strong man armed is overcome, and all his armor wherein he trusted is taken from him, and his spoil divided.  In this work, the lamb is, by the spiritual David, taken out of the mouth of the lion and bear: the poor captive is delivered from his mighty and cruel enemies.

In this, Christ appears gloriously above the corruption and wickedness of the heart, above its natural darkness in dispelling it, and letting in light, and above its enmity and opposition, by prevailing over it, drawing it powerfully and irresistibly to himself, and turning a heart of stone into a heart of flesh: above the obstinacy and perverseness of the will, by making them willing in the day of his power.  In this, he appears above all their lusts.  For all sin is put to death in this work and the soul is delivered from the power and dominion of it. — In this work, the grace of Christ gloriously triumphs over men’s guilt.  He comes over the mountains of their sins and visits them with his salvation.

And God often desires in this work, either in the beginning or progress of it, to give his people those spiritual comforts, in which he gloriously appears to be above all affliction and sorrow: and often gives them to triumph over the devil and his powerful and cruel instruments.  Many saints, by the influences of Christ’s Spirit on their hearts, have rejoiced and triumphed when suffering the greatest torments and cruelties of their persecutors.  And in this work Christ sometimes gloriously appears above death in carrying his people far above the fears of it and making them to say, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory,”

4. Christ gloriously appears above all these aforementioned evils in his glorifying the souls of departed saints in heaven. In this, he gives a glorious victory over death.  Death by it is turned from an enemy into a servant; and their death, by the glorious change that passes in the state of their souls, is become a resurrection, rather than a death.  Now Christ exalts the soul to a state of glory where it is perfectly delivered from Satan and all his temptation’s and all his instruments; and from all remains of sin and corruption and from all affliction: “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat — and

God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

5. Christ appears gloriously above these evils in what he does in his providence in the world as head and redeemer of his church.  If he appears gloriously above Satan and all his instruments in upholding his church, even from its first establishment, through all the powerful attempts that have been made against it by earth and hell: hereby fulfilling his promise, “That the gates of hell should never prevail against it.”   Christ gloriously triumphed over these his enemies in a remarkable success of his gospel soon after his ascension when many thousands in Jerusalem and all parts of the world were so soon turned from darkness unto light and from the power of Satan unto God: and in causing his word to go on and prosper and his church to increase and prevail against all the opposition of the heathen world when they united all their power to put a stop to it and root it out.  So that, in spite of all that the philosophers and wise men, and emperors and princes could do, the gospel in a little time overthrew Satan’s old heathenish kingdom in the whole Roman Empire which was then the main part of the world; and so brought about the greatest and most glorious revolution.  Instead of one single nation, now the greater part of the nations of the known world were become God’s people.  And Christ’s exaltation above all evil in his government of the world, in his providence, as the Redeemer of his people, has since gloriously appeared in reviving his church by the reformation from popery, after it had for many ages lain in a great measure hid and dwelt in a wilderness under anti-Christian persecution.

And he will yet far more gloriously triumph over Satan and all his Instruments in all the mighty kingdoms that have been set up in opposition to the kingdom of Christ, at the time of the fall of antichrist and the beginning of those glorious times.  “And then the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15.  Though great and mighty empires have been set up one after another in the world, in opposition to the kingdom of Christ, during the succession of so many ages, yet, Christ’s kingdom shall be the last and the universal kingdom, which he has given him, as the heir of the world.

Whatever great works Satan has wrought, the final issue and event of all in the winding up of things in the last ages of the world shall be the glorious kingdom of Christ through the world; a kingdom of righteousness and holiness, of love and peace, established everywhere.  This is in agreement with the ancient prediction, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man, came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.  And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is a everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).  “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him” (Daniel 7:27).

Then shall Christ appear gloriously exalted indeed above all evil: and then shall all the saints in earth and heaven gloriously triumph in him, and sing, “Hallelujah, salvation, and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord our God; for true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. Hallelujah: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth” (Rev. 19:2, 6.

6. Christ will appear gloriously above all evil in the consummation of the redemption of his elect church at the end of the world. Then the whole work of redemption will be completed with respect to all that Christ died for, both in its application, and not till then.  And then Christ’s exaltation above all evil will be most perfectly and fully manifest.  Then shall the conquest and triumph be completed with respect to all of them.  Then shall all the devils and all their instruments be brought before Christ to be judged and condemned.  And then their destruction shall be completed in their consummate and everlasting misery; when they shall be all cast into the lake of fire, no more to roam and usurp dominion in the world nor have liberty to make opposition against God and Christ.  They shall forever be shut up, thenceforward only to suffer.  Then shall death be totally destroyed.  All the saints shall be delivered everlastingly from it.  Even their bodies shall be taken from the power of death by a glorious resurrection.

Then shall all guilt and all sin and corruption, and all affliction, all sighs and tears, be utterly and eternally abolished, concerning every one of the elect since they will all be brought to their consummate and immutable glory.  And all this as the fruit of Christ’s blood and as an accomplishment of his redemption.

Then all that evil which has so prevailed and so exalted itself and usurped and raged and reigned, shall be perfectly and forever thrust down and destroyed, with respect to all the elect, and all will be exalted to a state where they will be forever immensely above all these things.  “And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Rev. 21:4).

SECTION 3

The subject improved and applied.

1. In this, we may see how the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ appears in the work of redemption.  It was because the Father had from eternity a design of exceedingly glorifying his Son that he appointed him to be the person that should thus triumph over the evil in the world.  The work of redemption is the most glorious of all God’s works that are made known to us.  The glory of God most remarkably shines forth in it.  And this is one thing whereby its glory eminently appears, that Christ appears so gloriously above Satan and all his instruments, above all guilt, all corruption, all affliction, above death, at above all evil.  And more especially, because evil hath so exalted itself in the world, as we have heard, and exalted itself against Christ in particular.

Satan has ever had a peculiar enmity against the Son of God.  Probably his first rebellion, which was his condemnation, was his proudly taking it in disdain when God declared the decree in heaven that his Son in man’s nature should be the King of heaven; and that all the angels should worship him.  However that was, yet it is certain that his strife has ever been especially against the Son of God.  The enmity has always been between the seed of the woman and the serpent.  And therefore that war which the devil maintains against God is represented by the devil and his angels fighting against Michael and his angels.  God had appointed his Son to be the heir of the world, but the devil has contested this matter with him and has strove to set himself up as God of the world.  And how exceedingly has the devil exalted himself against Christ!  How did he oppose him as he dwelt among the Jews in his tabernacle and temple!  And how did he oppose him when on earth!  And how has he opposed him since his ascension!  What great and mighty works has Satan brought to pass in the world!  How many Babels has he built up to heaven in his opposition to the Son of God!  How exceeding proud and haughty has he appeared in his opposition!  How have he and his instruments, and sin, affliction, and death, of which he is the father, raged against Christ?  But yet Christ, in the work of redemption, appears infinitely above them all.  In this work, he triumphs over them, however they have dealt proudly; and they all appear under his feet.  In this the glory of the Son of God in the work of redemption remarkably appears.

The beauty of good appears with the greatest advantage when compared with its contrary evil.  And the glory of that which is excellent, then especially shows itself, when it triumphs over in contrary and appears vastly above it in its greatest height.  The glory of Christ, in this glorious exaltation over so great evil, which so exalted itself against him, appears more remarkably in that he is exalted out of so low a state.  Though he appeared in the world as a little child; yet how does he triumph over the most gigantic enemies of God and men!  He who was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” is a man of war who triumphed over his enemies in all their power.  He who was meek and lowly of heart has triumphed over those proud foes.  And he is exalted over them all in that which appears most despicable even his cross.

2. Here is matter of exceeding great encouragement for all sinful creatures in the world of mankind to come to Christ.  For let them be as sinful as they will and ever so miserable, Christ, in the work of redemption, is gloriously exalted above all their sin and misery.  How ever high their guilt has risen, though mountains have been heaping on mountains all the days of their lives, till the pile appears towering up to heaven and even above the stars; yet Christ in the work of redemption appears gloriously exalted above all this height. — Though they are overwhelmed in a mighty deluge of woe and misery; a deluge that is not only above their heads, but above the heads of the highest mountains; and they do not see how it is possible that they should escape; yet they have no reason to be discouraged from looking to Christ for help, who in the work of redemption, appears gloriously above the deluge of evil.  Though they see dreadful corruption in their hearts; though their lusts appear like giants or like the raging waves of the sea; yet they need not despair help; but may look to Christ, who appears in the work of redemption, gloriously above all this corruption.

If they apprehend themselves to be miser the captives of Satan and find him too strong an adversary for esteem; and the devil is often tempting and buffeting them and triumphing over them with great cruelty.  If it seems to them that the devil has swallowed them up, and has got full possession of them, as the whale had of Jonah; yet there is encouragement for them to look again, as Jonah did, towards God’s holy temple, and to trust in Christ for deliverance from Satan, who appears so gloriously exalted above him in the work of redemption.

If they are ready to sink with darkness and sorrows, distress of conscience, or those frowns of God upon them; so that God’s waves and billows seem to pass over them; yet they have encouragement enough to look to Christ for deliverance.  These waves and billows have before exalted themselves against Christ; and he appeared to be infinitely above them. — And if they are afraid of death; if it looks exceeding, terrible, as an enemy that would swallow them up, yet let them look to Christ who has appeared so gloriously above death; and their fears will turn into joy and triumph.

3. What a glorious cause have those who have an interest in Christ to glory in their Redeemer! They are often beset with many evils and many mighty enemies surround them on every side with open mouths ready to devour them, but they need not fear any of them.  They may glory in Christ, the rock of their salvation, who appears so gloriously above them all.  They may triumph over Satan, over this evil world, over guilt, and over death.  For as their redeemer is mighty and is so exalted above all evil, so shall they also be exalted in him.  They are now, in a sense, so exalted, for nothing can hurt them.  Christ carries them, as on eaglets’ wings, high out of the reach of all evils, so that they cannot come near them to do them any real harm.  And, in a little time, they shall be so out of their reach that they shall not be able even to molest them any more forever.

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